Product Complements and Substitutes in the Real World: The Relevance of "Other Products"

Deskripsi

In the real world, buyer demand for a product can depend directly and indirectly on the marketing efforts of "other products" in different categories. This article offers a behavioral rationale for the existence of the effects of "other products'" marketing efforts and proposes a taxonomy of possible intercategory relationships. The discussion identifies several promising new research directions. It seems that economy (i e price), brand reputation, design, and versatility are examples of product benefits that can be readily measured across multiple categories. These benefits may serve as general dimensions because they are closely related to superordinate buyer purposes or goals. "Other products" may also provide key input to the modeling of dynamic changes in structure and enhancement of the prediction of change. Intercategory effects seem particularly important when examined as processes over time, and research can usefully examine this..Printed Journal