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IN, a, , an D..., \ product Mix and Price Mix, , , , contents -., 3.1 Product Mix — Meaning and Definition — Product Line and Product, Mix, 1.1 Product - Meanin init iti i, 3 ee 7 g, Definition, Characteristics, Product Line, 3.2 Product Classification, 3.3 Product Life Cycle, 3.4. Factors Considered for Product Management, 3.5 Price Mix - Meaning and Definition — Pricing Objectives - Factors, Affecting Pricing Decision — Pricing Methods, e Points to Remember, e Questions for Discussion, e Questions from Past Examinations, , , , , , PRODUCT LINE AND PRODUCT MIX, 3.1.1 Product - Meaning, Definition, Characteristics,, Product Line and Product Mix, , (A) What is a Product?, , A product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a, want or need. Products that are marketed include physical goods,, services, events, people, ideas, information, places, properties and, organisations., , Products are tangible, intangible or both. Products of manufacturing, units like pens; cameras, phones, cosmetics etc. are tangible products, whereas products of the service industry are intangible. An example of, intangible services is the feeling of motivation after hearing a, motivational speaker. A product may be a good plus service too. In such, a case it is both tangible as well as intangible for example, the food that, you eat in a restaurant is the tangible product, whereas the feeling of, eating in a luxurious atmosphere of the hotel is the intangible product., , 4], , ‘i PRODUCT MIX - MEANING AND DEFINITION

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Product Mix ond Prieg, Ey, , , , 3.2, , porketing 7 - eina dual package of good plus Serie, com : |, adays most produ are both tangible as well as intangible. tn fa, |, , 4 hence, most 0 a the physical en includes al) 4,, , | product peas a after sales services, and the prestige that js fel, , < both before 4 duct., vice rodu' ea ;, spon the ownershiP of te T all kinds of satisfaction both Material ang, A product is 4 el ate economic utilities to socio- Psychologie,, , eT is thus a bundle of physical, service and symbgj, satisfaction., , p e. i ° fit to the consumers., , rt tisfaction or bene’ h fe,, cted to give $4, , particulars €xP, , ‘product’:, (8) Definition : Professor Harry L. Hanson, "A product is the sup,, , ee things ~ THE INTRINSIC CHARACTERISTICS i, , | of thre HH, oraz and construction, its ability to perform ~ THE EXTRINSIC, , CHARAC’, INTANGIBLES associated with it’. /, , 2. According to Professor Phillip Kotler, "A product is made up of, , | three parts TANGIBLE PRODUCT — materials and construction, EXTENDED PRODUCT PART services and GENERIC PRODUCT, , | PART - the benefits”., , (C) Product Characteristics:, , Anything to be called a Product’ should have certain characteristics both explicit and implicit. In order to have a clear-cut understarlding of, the ‘Product’ concept, it is essential to understand these explicit and, implicit. characteristics of the product. Following is a brief outline of the, explicit and implicit characteristics of a product as presented by Professo!, , Sturdivant and his associates in their title "Managerial Analysis!", Marketing”. “, , mM pone Product Characteristics:, xplicit product characteristics, ar, uniformly by aff observers, tt, disagreement amongst the bu, , those which are perceived almos, In other words, there is not mut, i d, , these cl et; yers and sellers about the existence, haracteristics jn the product, There is a common agreement, , amongst all as to the exi, , st ;, , are ms Such attributes, thea nature of these characteristics. e®, - Physical ., , material its mage duration: A product is a bundle of some phys, , Product has its own sigs Ae Plastic, glass, stone, metal etc £4, , @ host of other such i ‘ape, colour, density, odour, texture, taste 4, , characteristics, it hi ees :, , a, Perform, For aim S an appa, , rent functi tions, old one may be y Ple a toothb ction or a set of fun if, , Sed to clean aon 'S Used to clean teeth. Howeve, bs, jewellery, nooks and cranny's, , b:, , , , TERISTICS its packaging, brand or trade mark and THE |, , attributes. On the basis of its phys, , , , ;, acts, , unde, each, servi, sale, , repai, , part, ‘com, enjo’, bran, You, exan, , soar, , othe, of a, impi, not, mak, , and, exis, incr, deci, , reqt, , imp, dea, , the, Wh, exi!, dis, dis, sol, pe

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vf, aq, the, S Tale, , ang, ica}, t, Oli¢, , , , , , 3.3, , eo Prec an, Product bx and Pre, ssociated Services: Products ae, , “sanding that the seller will render ass, | jroduct These are before and after, , , , are si, fe with the common, Clated services in cag et, , h T sale sery, es are its demonstration, credit facilities available Before sale, lable and the ‘after’, e ‘after, , wices are Its delivery, installati, a seerviceS and warrantees, both, amen Hane parts, , ‘ package and brand name: It is useful oe, agit of the product, for it is sometimes difficult to cance pene ee, Fntent and ‘package’. For example perfumes, dsbleren eee, enjoy 2 greater demand because of their attractive ae ane te, rand name is intrinsic to the product. A brand ands ‘er outa, ot need to name the product, you just Maree ee, example ‘Colgate’ means toothpaste, ‘Ceat' means tyres, x os 7, “60a. 'savion' means after shave lotion and so on. a, "4, Product Mix: This points out the relationship of the product, er products sold or made by a firm. That is, a given sea as aan, , 2 of, , , , , , you don, , oth, of a set of products offered for sale by a particular seller and has an, impact on how the seller and the buyers consider it. The consumer does, , not think of the product in isolation as he knows that the producer, , makes other products too., 5. Product life cycle: A product like human being has a life cycle, , and at any point of time, a product can be located in some stage of its, , existence. The sales of a given product follows a characteristic pattern of, , increasing, at first, slowly - then at an increasing rate, then at 2, , decreasing rate and finally absolute; sales begin to decline. The time, required for each of these stages varies widely among the products. The, product life cycle is made up of four stages and each has its own, implications for the producers as well as consumers. (Product Life Cycle is, dealt with in detail at a later stage in this chapter.), , [0 Implicit Product Characteristics:, ae earlier, explicit characteristics are those bie, there is near agreement amongst all about their onan ., When there is a disagreement amongst the consul! eT Ge, existence and nature of certain characteristics : x Prk These, disagreements form the intrinsic characteris N uct in 8, disagreements exist because each indivi i vivat isthe, some what differs en ee a that of another person., perception of one person is not the s@!

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34, , __ Product Mis and p, , , , percepuions and disagreement points, , of a product. Th, , , , vo different, , $ £, setae Charac teristics ref, , , , ‘OUT such fear,, =) Feature, , , , sanacteristies, , cha : i product Symbolism: A product is a cluster of symbols By vir,, of its colour, shape, size and function, It Is a symbol. A different Seo. c, the product gives it a different meaning to different people Similarly, different colour, oF a different function and so on. For example ,, an wearing a white or a grey shirt get slotted into a traditions, man image as compared to a gentleman wearing a red or rust coloureg, shirt. Thus a product is a sum total of the meaning it communicates winen, others look at it or use it. It may communicate a symbol of status, style, economy, performance, achievement, boldness and so on., , 2. Communication Media: A product is a bundle of symbols and it, is a bundle of communication also. Of course, what this communication, is, is determined by the consumer's personal interpretation of the, symbols, mediated by his culture group, group influences and, personality. Every product says something about itself. Every product isa, story teller about: What it is, What it is used for, at what rate, by whom,, where it is available, and so on so on. With every product there is, information, given or hidden., , 3. The Product Perception: Products are perceived or viewed in, different ways by different consumers. Perception is a physio- psychological process. Perception begins with a clue of the environment that, received by a consumer. This clue sends a message to the brain. The, brain compares this message with other stored messages In the brait, and perception occurs. For example when a cup of tea is placed in front, of @ consumer, the consumer smells the tea, The smell is the clue fe", the environment, which is received by the consumer. The brain records, this smell and compares it with other stored smells and the consume!, comes to the conclusion that the smell is of "TataTea" or “Liptom” ©, "Brook Bond” etc. In the same way instead of the smell, the clue from the, environment can come from the taste, colour, texture etc. The perception, of the consumer will help the producer to develop the relevant product, ‘Relevant Product’ is the product that is perceived by the consume's ?, the seller intended him to perceive it, because it is relevant t? ue, realized or aspired behavioural pattern Of those people, who comp", the market of the product, , gentlem:, , , , , , , , , Ss TeBSsawve WL, , =, , , , \, 4. The Product Evaluation: Truly speaking, it is almost imposs?, to separate the perception of the product from its evaluatio" of

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Product Mix and Price Mix, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , nceptually and operationally,, , aca simultaneously, Along his oe ,, getting UP of a set of criteria to determine a evaluati, comparing the ‘efforts’ involved and ‘rewards! a ai dlactionc iit, Thus efforts may be: the necessary search for heey by the consumer,, affects the consumer's pocket; the eralocten Product, the price as it, functional, psychological that he gets in return te, ne rewards from individual to individual and from time to ‘ime i pace tal, individual. i in case of the same, , Thus every product has both impli ici “, noth these together make up the ane explicit characteristics, and, (D) Product Mic, , A Product Mix (also called product assortment) is a set of all the, products that a particular seller offers for sale. For example, the product, mix of Kodac includes products like cameras, batteries, chargers, inkjet, printers, Kodac's easyshare software, inkjet paper, single use Cameras etc., All the products in the product mix of Kodac are divided into two, product ‘lines. One product line for information products and another, product line for image products. Similarly the product mix of Proctor and, Gamble consists of products like detergent, tooth paste, shampoo, toilet, tissue, cough drops etc. Proctor and Gamble's product mix consists of a, number of product lines. For example it has a hair care product line, which includes shampoos like Pantene and Head and Shoulders, it has a, health care product line which includes products like Vicks Vaporub,, Vicks Inhaler, Vicks Formula 44, Vicks Cough Drops and Vicks Action 500., , A company's product mix has a certain width, length, depth and, consistency. These concepts are illustrated in the below given table 3.1, , for some of the products of Proctor and Gamble, Table 3.1: Product Mix of Proctor and Gamble, , Line, Compact =, o-Met Shout Vicks Formula 44_|, Vicks Cough |, , Drops, Vicks Action 500, , separable, they, ion implies the, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ti, |