Answer to Question 1
The characteristics of services are as follows:
1 . Intangibility - Services are mostly intangible. They are frequently consumed rather than possessed. Even though the intangibility of services is a primary differentiating criterion, it is not always present. For example, publishing services ultimately result in a tangible good, namely a book or an article.
2 . Perishability - Because of their nature, services are difficult to inventory. If they are not used, the brown around the edges syndrome tends to result in high services perishability. Unused capacity in the form of an empty seat on an airplane, for example, becomes nonsalable quickly.
3 . Customer involvement - For many service offerings, the time of production is very close to or even simultaneous with the time of consumption. This fact points toward close customer involvement in the production of services. Customers frequently either service themselves or cooperate in the delivery of services.
Answer to Question 2
conversion