Question

Discuss the concept of product life cycle. 2. Define sustainable marketing and discuss its social criticism.

Guidelines:

1. There needs to be a cover page with the following details: a. Name of the Student b. Student Id c. Name of the course and Course Code d. Assignment Number 2. All the answers should be type written. 3. The font used should be Times New Roman with font size 12, headings to be bold and font size 14. The line spacing should be 1.5. It should be right and left aligned. 4. The answers should be in paragraph form. 5. Please refer to text book, reference materials and online sources to complete your assignments. 6. There should be no copy and paste among students. If found the assignment would stand cancelled. 7. The total marks of the assignment is out of 10 marks. 8. The assignment should be handed over in hard form and left side stapled. 9. Assignment has to be done individually. 10. Late submission won’t be accepted.

Answer 1

Question no. 1 Products, just like human beings, too have life cycle. Product life cycle is the process a poduct goes through from when it is first introduced into the market until it declines or is removed from the market.

The life cycle has four stages : Introduction, growth, maturity and decline. Product life cycle is basically the progession of a product through these four stages i.e when it was first introduced( Stage 1: introduction) , when it was getting maximum and rapid acceptance from customers( stage 2: Growth) , when it was at the peak of its position ( Stage 3: Maturity) , when it started disappearing ( stage 4: Decline)

Stage 1 Introduction - The main objective duing this stage is not to make profit but to let customers know about your product and its speciality and thats is why , sales are low and advertisement costs are high.

Stage 2 : Growth- During this stage, product has been accepted by customers so main aim in this stage is to increase sales and gain customer loyalty.

Stage 3: Maturity-  At this stage, the importance is given to maintaning the market share by twearking your products features to retain your customers.

Stage 4: Decline - This stage is related to decreasing revenue due to market saturation, high competition and new needs of customers.

Following are the assumptions made about product life cycle:

1. A product passes through all the four stages.

2. The duration of each stage is fixed and equal.

3. Product passes through these four stages in a chronological order.

4. There is no reintroduction of any product  

Question no. 2 Meaning of sustainable marketing: According to Philip kotler, Sustainable marketing means an organisation should meet the needs of its present customers without compromising the ability of future generation to fulfill its own needs. It refers to the practice that ensures all marketing processes are environmentally and socially benign. Criticism: Sustainable products are basically about what they can do for the environment and how they can contribute to the world and mostly not how it will help the consumer. when a customer makes a purchase, he looks for 3 benefits namely : Functional, emotional and social benefits. It is important for the company to care about what a customer's needs are and how it's products will fulfill those needs.