Discussion Response(MK)

 Jean

TOPIC 2: Types of Consumer Offerings - Personal Application

• Convenience offerings

Whole milk a form of convenience offerings. Convenience offerings don’t take much of a thought because there no difference between the brand (umn.edu, n.d.). I purchase whole milk every time I go to the grocery store each week. I don’t even think about the label on the milk carton because they are all the same. Milk is available in practically every groceries and convenience stores.

• Shopping offerings

Shopping offerings are the type of consumer offerings that require a bit more effort in comparing the attributes of the product. A shopping offering that I purchased recently is a pair of sneakers. I had to search for multiple web site to find the right pair of sneakers that I want. I review the color, material, and look before I made the purchase.

• Specialty offerings 

The first specialty offerings I can think about is Tesla Electric Vehicles (EV). Tesla provides direct to consumer electric vehicles that require customers to pre-order the vehicles. The process of purchasing a Tesla vehicle is entirely different from purchasing a regular motor power vehicle. People who

• Unsought offerings

When it comes to unsought offerings, consumer buying behavior is slightly different because the consumer has little to no interest in the product. Unsought offerings require aggressive advertising targeting the consumer base. A family having to plan a funeral of a loved one is a form of unsought offerings.

Mary 

TOPIC 3: Product Life Cycle

The product life cycle (PLC) is stated in the text as “including the stages the product goes through after development from introduction to the end of the product (The Saylor Foundation, 2015).  Not all products are alike, and not all undergo all the stages of the life cycle (The Saylor Foundation, 2015). 

I chose Instant Pot for this discussion to discuss further.  The website provides lots of information about the product and what it provides, as well as a vast number of recipes (Instant Brands Inc., 2020).  Instant Pot is in Stage 2: Growth.  The text defines the growth stage by “increasing sales, more competitors, and higher profits” (The Saylor Foundation, 2015).  An increase in advertising was due to the viral word of mouth phenomenon.  Instant Pots are popular because everyone is talking about them as being the best multicooker (Kwoka, & Olsen, 2018).  A quick and innovative way to make nutritional, hearty foods in nearly 20 minutes (Kwoka, & Olsen, 2018). 

There is much competition for this brand.  In August 2020, Instant Pot did win editor’s choice as one of the best pressure cookers on the market (Kwoka, & Olsen, 2018).  Some of the fierce competitors include; Crock-Pot Express Crock Multicooker, Ninja Foodie Pressure Cooker, Greek Chef 11 in 1 multi-functional pressure cooker, and Black and Decker Electric Multicooker (Instant Brands Inc., 2020).  Instant Pot paved the way for other companies to adopt the same innovation into cooking, making it hard for the company to go to stage 3.  Instant Pot’s are sold at almost every retailer, Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl’, Target, JCPenney, Walmart, and many more.  Stage 3, the maturity stage, is when a product levels off and retains repetitive customers instead of just first-time buyers (The Saylor Foundation, 2015).  I honestly may be a first-time buyer of this product as well.  For this to happen, competition needs to dwindle, and I do not see that happening any time soon.  Although there is a lot of blogs, media, and press related to the Instant Pot, not everyone will purchase this specific brand. 

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