A CONSUMER'S TAXONOMY OF SERVICE

Scope of study. The study sought to provide a foundation for the services marketing area by developing a consumer's taxonomy of services that captured how consumers classify services. The methodology employed a domain sampling technique by defining the domain through literature review and consumer Q-sort interviews. A survey instrument was developed and purified for the purposes of surveying adult consumers. Analysis of the data yielded a numerical taxonomy of services. Services from two classes were then used as stimuli for a limited validation of the SERVQUAL to determine if the class of service affected the attributes and pattern of attributes consumers use to evaluate the quality of a service.; Findings and conclusions. The numerical taxonomy yielded six classes of services based on significant differences among the dimensions of consumer experience, consumer affect regarding the service, the ability to provide the service one's self, and availability of information and choices regarding the service. The limited validation indicated that the class of service does not explain the attributes and pattern of attributes used by consumers to evaluate the quality of a service.