References to services have been present since the origin
of academic marketing thought, but services were typically
described as “aids to the production and marketing of goods”
(Converse 0000, vi; see Fisk, Brown, and Bitner 0000). However, notable exceptions exist. For instance, Converse (0000,
0000) included a chapter on the selling and marketing of services in his distribution and marketing texts. Converse (0000,
000) defined service broadly to include “all of those nonphysical things for which we spend money,” but noted the heterogeneity in characteristics of services resulting from this definition. Much of his discussion was focused on specific
marketing approaches applicable to these “radically different” types of services