These artifacts, however, are not the final footprints of the overall service conceptualization
phase. The service association process should further refine the initial findings and
perfect the preliminary business solutions. The service association analysis process can also offer
various approaches to creating service structures. These formations are derived by the underlying
established relationships between various service concepts.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384??”322 BC), in his association of ideas theory, was the
first known theorist to identify the contexts in which ideas are associated.9 One of his major observations
was the similarity perspective, which refers to how closely people??™s interests, attributes,
and personalities align. He also explored the grounds on which ideas can differ and how they can
be distinguished from one another. Another powerful testimony of human nature was propounded
by David Hume, the Scottish philosopher (1711??”1776). In his book Treatise of Human Nature,10
he elaborates on the origin of ideas and the way these abstractions can be subdivided into smaller
components of thoughts. In Section IV, connection or association of ideas, he claims that there
must be associating qualities and uniting principles between ideas. In his opinion, ideas can be
associated employing these major principles: (1) contiguity, by which ideas introduce other ideas;
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