Abstract

This paper extends previous models of integrative service classification to make them more applicable in the highly developed ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and knowledge-economics era. By introducing the concepts of modularization, the service business is viewed as an entity composed of different service modules. The concepts not only clarify confusion concerning service business classification, but also provide a framework to construct optimized marketing strategies for the service business. Researchers have interpreted services as value creation activities. They claimed that the value should be measured by customers and co-created with customers. As such, the service business can be divided into different service modules from the provider's and customer's perspectives. Salient attributes can thus be identified by integrating and optimizing the service modules weighed by their respective revenues. Additionally, the strategic implications of the salient attributes are used to construct optimal marketing strategies for the service business. This is a conceptual paper on issues surrounding implementations of integrative service classification and optimized marketing strategies for service business. Three propositions are generated during the development of the modularization concepts and they serve as the theoretical basis for the construction of optimized marketing strategies.