Product Life Cycle

Marketing Management
Model 2 Writing Assignment

Sherri Royce

Baker College

Marketing Management
Model 2 Writing Assignment

The paper is to describe how Americans purchase products based on fashion and fads along with The Product Life Cycle.  Marketers have many moving components to put together before they can determine their target market and demographic.  These are construed of many swaying components that have daily changing intertwined parts among each.  The most efficient way to determine strategies is to know how consumers react to new products.

Product Life Cycle

Products have a life cycle that are based on the introduction of the product, then the growth stage, then the maturity stage, and then the final stage is the decline stage (Peter & Donnelly, Jr., 2013, Pg. 97).  The objective of this strategy is to aid in the marketing concepts in forecasting, pricing, advertising, product planning, and other aspects of marketing management (Peter & Donnelly, Jr., 2013, Pg. 97).  The Product Live Cycle is a mere strategic method to guide marketers in the life cycle of the product and not the absolute direction.  All products go through a life cycle whether it is a high-end purchase of a car down to a non-brand name toothbrush.  Nothing can last forever and will need replacing, some sooner than others.  The goal is that the higher priced products last far longer than an average to low end cost product.  

Fashion

Fashion type products go through another version of The Life Cycle process based on popular brands and trendsetters (Peter & Donnelly, Jr., 2013, Pg. 99).  Their life cycle comprises of the adoption of the style then followed by the emulation stage where more customers purchase the style to be part of the trendsetter group (Peter & Donnelly, Jr., 2013, Pg. 99).  Soon to be followed by the economic stage when the style becomes available at mass-market prices and the product is offered at a lower price to target new customers or to steel them from competitors.  

Fads

Fads are products that are immediately purchased at the introduction stage a high rate but go through The Life Cycle much quicker (Peter & Donnelly, Jr., 2013, Pg. 99).  As fast as these products are in demand they are forgotten just as fast and the consumer has moved on to another fad.  Consumers like to have what is “hot” now so they can feel like they are on top of the consumer purchasing chain.  

Product Adoption and Diffusion

        There are driving forces behind how fast products are accepted and purchased by consumers.  There are few consumers that base their purchasing decisions on research of the company’s reputation in the market or prior reviews.  Instead they will just go with what is popular at the moment.  Product adaption has a process that begins with innovators who are the first to purchase the new product (Peter & Donnelly, Jr., 2013, Pg. 99).   Following are early adaptors who are experienced innovators and are respected social leaders (Peter & Donnelly, Jr., 2013, Pg. 99).  They also may have a higher education, be of higher authority, and will spark the interest of the early majority and late majority adaptors.  Early majority adaptors do not like to take risks and prefer to make purchases very carefully (Peter & Donnelly, Jr., 2013, Pg. 99).  These adaptors like to wait until they know all the “bugs” have been worked out of the new product before they purchase it.  This makes sense but can also lead to the purchase of outdated technology and innovation.  The next are the late majority adaptors who avoid risk and are not easily acceptable to new ideas (Peter & Donnelly, Jr., 2013, Pg. 100).  Last, there are the laggards who are reluctant to make changes and are more comfortable with their traditional long-standing products (Peter & Donnelly, Jr., 2013, Pg. 100).  The laggards also have a fear of debt but will eventually purchase name brand products (Peter & Donnelly, Jr., 2013, Pg. 100).  The laggards can also be those of the older generation who have lived through an economic depression or those who grew up poor or still are poor and make sacrifices in their purchasing decisions.