In the growth stage of the PLC there is a limited degree of customer loyalty. This is because most customers are “first-time consumers” and have no direct experience purchasing the product. This means that in a growth market, it is common to see the competitors try to obtain as much market share as possible during

Growth phase follows the introduction phase The growth phase follows a successful introduction stage. There is no guarantee that a new product will be successful – therefore, not all new products will have a growth phase. However, provided that the firm has been successful in reaching innovators in the market, and the product has some

Product reinvention to trigger a new growth phase In a mature market, potentially entering the decline stage of the product life cycle, larger firms may be in a position to try and rethink the overall positioning of a product in order to try and broaden its market or to create new usage or opportunities for

Following the maturity stage of the PLC, many products at some point will enter the decline stage. The decline stage is a significant reduction in sales volumes. Typically this occurs for two main reasons: There is a new product category in the market that provides a better solution and has provided enough incentive for consumers

One of the key challenges for the firm during the introduction phase, given the important role of innovators, is the limited level of sales and likely negative profitability. This occurs because only a small proportion of consumers – the innovators – will trial/purchasing new product in its early stages. Because the firm has its normal

The introduction phase starts with innovators Marketers of new products seeking to gain traction for their offering are reliant upon a category of consumers that are classified as “innovators”. Innovators are consumers that are far less influenced by word-of-mouth for a particular product category. Typically innovators have a high level of interest in the product

New-to-the-world products only When we look at the product life cycle, we are generally considering products that are new to the marketplace. That is, these are products that are not normally purchased by consumers. We are not looking at products that are new to the firm, but are new to the market. Therefore, in the

Product life cycle = stages of “life” The product life cycle (PLC) is a very common concept across all marketing textbooks. From the words “life cycle”, you should see the connection between a product and a biological life. Just as plants and animals progress through a life cycle, so does a product. Typically, in most

Following the period of growth, a market will reach the maturity stage of its product life cycle. This means that there is limited growth – usually in line with the economy – left in the market. Sales have maximized and are unlikely, generally, to change significantly in the foreseeable future. In other words, the market