The Importance of Information Goods Abstraction Levels for Information Commerce Process Models

A process model, in the context of e-commerce, is an organized set of activities for the creation, (re)production, trade and delivery of goods. Electronic commerce studies have created important process models for the trade of physical goods via Internet. These models are not easily suitable for the trade of information goods. Lowly codified information goods are hard to represent unambiguously among trading partners, their property rights are hard to secure, and the determination of volume and price is difficult. Highly codified information goods are easier traded by markets but have varying levels of abstraction that have specific requirements for their process models. This article defines process model requirements for more codified information goods. These requirements have substantial consequences for the realization of information goods business models.