A Three-Dimensional Scale of Intangibility

Abstract

As new information technologies are being developed, so have new generations of information products. Because these new products appear highly intangible, this renews the debate about intangibility as defined in the marketing literature, which has traditionally considered it as a unidimensional or two-dimensional construct and has associated it almost exclusively with services. The objective of this study is to show that intangibility is a three-dimensional construct. A survey was conducted, and structural equation modeling analyses were used to test the proposed scale. Results showed that intangibility is indeed composed of three dimensions: mental intangibility, physical intangibility, and generality. The scale was then applied to some goods and services, and it was found that some goods appear to be less tangible than many services. These results suggest the need for some changes in how service marketing research is carried out and how managers deal with the “intangibility” of their services.