268
Critical
Thinking
Key
Terms Objectives
Web
Connect
What Is Product?
A product is anything that can be bought and sold. It is also one
of the four Ps of marketing—product, price, place, and promotion. The
product can be goods, service, or an idea. Goods are tangible. They
physically exist and can be touched. A service or an idea is intangible.
It is not physical and cannot be touched. Products are grouped by
those sold mainly to consumers and those sold mainly to businesses.
Some goods and services are used by both groups.
A product mix is all of the goods and services that a business
sells. Usually the product mix involves goods and services that relate
to each other in some way. Small businesses may only sell a limited
number of goods, while large corporations can offer thousands of
different goods. For example, the product mix for a local stationery
store may include invitations, specialty paper, greeting cards, and
pens. Some businesses offer only one type of goods or service, such as
carpet cleaning.
Products are generally organized into product lines. A product
line is the group of closely related products within the product mix.
For example, a shoe store may sell several different lines of shoes,
product mix
product line
product positioning
brand
branding
logo
tagline
prototype
product life cycle
Deciding the appropriate sizes, materials,
and potential environmental issues for
your products’ packaging requires time
and money. Based on the products your
business may offer, which factors will most
influence the packaging you select? If you
are providing a service, think about creative
ways to package your marketing materials.
Think of a new product or service that was
recently introduced. Use the Internet to
research how that product was developed.
Write a short report about the development
process for that new product or service.
Include the types of research and
marketing that took place to introduce it to
the market.
10.1
Product
After completing this section, you will be
able to:
Define product as it applies to the four Ps
of marketing.
Describe potential product strategies that
may be used by an entrepreneur.
SECTION