Question

What do marketers know about the demographic variables of age, household composition, and stage in the life cycle? Give examples of what occurs in each life cycle.

Answer 1

Product life cycle ( PLC) has four main stages which are introduction, growth, maturity and decline ( Raymond Vernon, 1966) . This concept is widely used in global marketing framework development by top notch companies. Marketers should understand demographic factors which should be considered in designing the product's features and after sales services programs. Product may be required huge investment by the seller as in the introduction stage very few people may be aware of the offer. Hence , prices may be set to sell the products as per the demographics of particular marketplace. At growth stages, products may be sold even door to door marketing methods or directly home delivery options to the house hold customers.

Maturity needs consistent marketing and sales efforts to win the competitive market. A personalized offer to end users may be helpful in boosting the sales turnover.

In decline stage , customers should know atleast about brand recognition of a particular product so atleast breakeven can be achieved. Many times , companies redesign the offerings to tap its name in market share list.