Chapter 8: Q12PA (page 317)
You are the manager of a small U.S. firm that sells nails in a competitive U.S. market (the nails you sell are a standardized commodity; stores view your nails as identical to those available from hundreds of other firms). You are concerned about two events you recently learned about through trade publications: (1) the overall market supply of nails will decrease by 2 percent due to exit by foreign competitors; and (2) due to a growing U.S. economy, the overall market demand for nails will increase by 2 percent. Based on this information, should you plan to increase or decrease your production of nails? Explain.
Short Answer
Marketers have described the market in various ways based on their item strategy, brand positioning, spectrum, design ideas, and a variety of other criteria. It is difficult to describe market demand since one marketer's perception of market requirements may differ from someone else's. However, these are a few market demand aspects that all marketers evaluate.