ICT: the creation of value and differentiation in services

Abstract

This paper raises the question of the impact that the increasing use of information and communication technologies (ICT) has on the process of creating value and the differentiation in service activities. We shall develop the idea that electronic intermediation tends to “impoverish” service relations, insomuch as the technological interface can by no means replace the wealth of human interactions on which the creation of value and the differentiation of services are based. So it is mainly a theoretical contribution based on American and French academic works in the field of services marketing management.