Monday, March 2, 2015

Blog 5: The Different Types of Products

Hey Everybody!

Did you know that there are two categories of products in Marketing? Neither did I. Usually I just something and it registers as a product or a service. Today I am going to go into more details about these categories so that you have an idea about what you are buying next time you go shopping. The two categories of products are called CONSUMER and BUSINESS products. My textbook tells us that consumer products are products purchased by the consumer while business products are products that organizations buy to assist in providing other products for resale. Business products are sometimes known as business-to-business or B2B products and industrial products. You need to keep in mind that that products can be both a consumer and a business product. For example, an HP printer could be bought by a consumer for use in his or her house while a company could buy the same printer for office use. Both groups would most likely buy these products in different places because a consumer would buy it through a store while a sale's representative for HP would most likely contact the company to place an order.

Consumer products are broken up into four sub-categories; the CONVENIENCE PRODUCT, SHOPPING PRODUCT, SPECIALTY PRODUCT, and the UNSOUGHT PRODUCT. These products tend to be different because the consumer will react differently while purchasing each product.



The CONVENIENCE product are different products that a consumer frequently purchases buys with convenience and a very small amount of shopping effort. Chips is an example of a type of products that fits into this category. These products tend to be inexpensive and can be located in many places. The consumer will usually be aware of favorite brands but will substitute for a different brand if necessary. Companies will tend to stress that their products are inexpensive and available in many locations.



The SHOPPING products are items that the consumer compares several alternatives based on price, quality and style. These products tend to be on the more expensive side of things but still available on a large scale. Consumers will usually show brand loyalty but they will substitute for another brand if they need to. These products are not bought very often and the consumer will tend to compare different products. Companies will usually stress how their product is different from the competitors product. A good example of a shopping product are sunglasses. Last time I went to a surf shop to buy sunglasses I had a certain brand and style in mind, which were Oakley Frogskins, but while I was there I tried on different models of Oakleys and different companies like SPY and Dragon to make sure that I was getting what I wanted but in the end I  did buy a pair of Oakley Frogskins.



SPECIALTY product are products that the consumer makes a special effort to search out and buy. These products tend to be very expensive and hard to find. Consumers are very brand loyal and will not accept substitutes. The consumer will purchase these products very infrequently and they spend a lot of time on searching and making a decision. The company will stress the uniqueness of their brand. For me, a specialty product that I buy is a snowboard. I am very particular when it comes to what I am looking for in my board. I will usually buy one every four to five years and I do a lot of research before making my decision. I will almost always read Snowboard Magazines Buyer Guide to make sure that I am getting exactly what I want. I grew up riding a K2 Snowboard and as I grow older my loyalty to K2 grows because I have never bought a board from them that I have not liked.



UNSOUGHT products are the products that consumers usually do not know about or does not initially want. A good example of an unsought product is a fire extinguisher because a consumer usually will know about them but they never think that they will need to use on in their house. The price for these products tends to vary and you can not buy them everywhere. For products like these consumers will accept substitute brands and they do not purchase them very often. Awareness is crucial when it comes to the promotion of unsought products.



Business products are broken up into two categories: COMPONENTS or SUPPORT PRODUCTS. They are usually a result of what is called derived demand, which is when the sales of business products are derived from the sale of consumer products.

Components are items that become a final project like the lumber used to build a deck. Components are not only raw goods but they can also be parts used to build a product like a door hinge.



Support Products are items used to assist in producing goods and services. Support Products are broken up into installations, accessory equipment, supplies and industrial services. An example of an installation is fixed equipment while accessor equipment is usually tools or office equipment. Supplies are push pins or staples while industrial services can be an elevator maintenance or a lawyer's service.


Thanks for reading todays post! 

See you soon!
Chris

References:
Chips. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. 
Consumer Product Chart. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. 
Fire Extinguisher. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. 
Kerin, Roger A., Steven W. Hartley, and William Rudelius. Marketing. 11th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2013. Print. 
Lumber. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. 
Office Supplies. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. 
Snowboards. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. 
Sunglass Case. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015.

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