c
_____ is the act of designing the company's offering and image to occupy a

distinctive place in the mind of the target market.




Positioning

Correct


Companies can gain a strong competitive advantage through having better-trained

people. This is called _____.




personnel differentiation

Correct

_____ pass through four stages: distinctiveness, emulation, mass fashion, and
decline.




Fashions

Correct


In a _____ pattern of the product life cycle, sales grow rapidly when the product is
first introduced and then fall to a "petrified" level.




cycle-recycle




growth-slump-maturity


growth-slump-maturity

G
The _____ stage is marked by a rapid climb in sales.




decline




growth


growth

^
During the _____ stage sales slow down creating over-capacity in the industry,
which leads to intensified competition.




maturity

Correct
Œ
During the _____ stage sales and profits decline and some firms withdraw from the
market.




decline

Correct


_____ calls for gradually reducing a product and business's costs while trying to
maintain sales.




Divestment




Harvesting


Harvesting

Ñ
If a new product sells well, new firms will enter the market, ushering in a(n) _____
stage.




market-growth

Correct

c
Eventually, when competitors cover and serve all the major market segments the
market enters the _____ stage.




product-growth




maturity


maturity

cc
Products in a particular category compete closely with one another.




False

Correct

c
Companies can achieve competitive advantage through the way they design their
distribution channels' coverage, expertise, and performance.




False




True


Incorrect
c
A company's positioning and differentiation strategy must change as the product,
market, and competitors change over the product life cycle.




False




True


Incorrect

c
All products exhibit a bell-shaped product life cycle curve.




False

Correct

cG
Fads are fashions that come quickly into public view, are adopted with great zeal,
peak early, and decline very fast.




False




True


Incorrect

c^
Most studies show that the market pioneer has a great advantage.




False

Correct

cŒ
Managers may try to stimulate sales during the maturity stage by modifying the
product's characteristics.




False




True


Incorrect

c
Weak products consume proportionately less of management's time than stronger

products.




False

Correct
cÑ
Companies that successfully restage or rejuvenate a mature product often do so by
adding value to the original offering.




False




True


Incorrect


Many critics of the Product Life Cycle theory say its life -cycle patterns are too
variable in shape and duration to be generalized.




False




True


Incorrect