In the general sense of the word, a service is an activity or action that is performed by one person (both legal and physical) in the interests of another. In economic theory, this term refers to the type of product (not necessarily tangible) that can be simultaneously consumed, transferred and produced.
In order to better understand this phenomenon, to determine the subtleties of management in a particular area and to keep records, a classification of services has been created. It is produced according to many indicators: by groups,
types, prices, quality and others.
The classification of services helps to highlight how, for example, one type of service differs from another, what is its specificity. There are specific features in every area: in banking, consulting, advertising, legal, etc. Based on this, five types of services rendered to the population are distinguished by industry:
1. Distribution. These are communication services, trade and transport.
2. Production. This includes engineering, leasing and services related to the repair of various equipment.
3. Massive (they are also called consumer). These are services related to different aspects of the household, spending free time.
4. Professional. This is the services of consultants, financiers, insurance companies, bankers.
5. Public. These are services related to education, culture, as well as the media.
In addition, there is a classification of services according to the direction of action on the object and their tangibility. It is the basis for intangible production. So, according to this principle, they distinguish:
1) Actions are tangible. They are aimed directly at the human body. These are the services of passenger transport, sports facilities, healthcare, beauty salons, catering, hairdressers, etc.
2) Actions are also tangible, but aimed at goods and various physical objects. This is the repair of various equipment and its maintenance, the services of veterinarians, security, freight transport, etc.
3) Intangible actions. They are aimed at human consciousness. This is primarily the media, cinema, theaters, museums, education.
4) Actions intangible and affecting the same invisible assets. These include the services of lawyers, insurance companies, consultants, banks, as well as operations conducted with securities.
The current
international classification of services is based on the one that was developed back in 1935. And only after more than twenty years it was officially adopted. Over the course of several decades, it was revised twice and was finally approved in 1979. The countries that participated in the signing of the Nice Agreement committed to use this classification when registering trademarks and to indicate class numbers in official documents.
To study the supply and demand, improve and develop in the services sector, a classifier of services was created. It is included in the Unified Coding System for Social, Economic and Technical Information and is constantly being compared with existing international standards and norms.