What Is Product Differentiation?

The so-called product differentiation refers to the fact that the company provides customers with products that, through various methods, cause particularities sufficient to trigger customer preferences, so that customers can effectively distinguish it from similar products provided by other competitive enterprises. In order to achieve the purpose of enabling enterprises to occupy a favorable position in market competition. ^[1]

Product differentiation

The so-called product differentiation refers to the fact that the company provides customers with products that, through various methods, cause particularities sufficient to trigger customer preferences, so that customers can effectively distinguish it from similar products provided by other competitive enterprises. In order to achieve the purpose of enabling enterprises to occupy a favorable position in market competition. ^[1]

Enterprises have absolute monopoly power over products that are different from other products. This monopoly power establishes barriers for other companies to enter the market or industry and forms a competitive advantage. At the same time, in terms of the elements that form the product entity or in the process of providing products, the enterprise creates special characteristics that are sufficiently different from other similar products to attract buyers, leading to consumer preferences and loyalty. In this way, product differentiation not only forces external entrants to spend huge sums of money to conquer the loyalty of existing customers, which causes some obstacles, but also differentiates this company from other companies in the same market, based on product differences. Compete for the advantageous position of market competition. Therefore, product differentiation is of great significance to the marketing activities of enterprises.

From the perspective of consumer demand, product differences include consumers' different attitudes towards similar products. Therefore, the reasons for product differences include

Product differentiation is divided into vertical differentiation (Horizontal differentiation) and horizontal differentiation (Horizontal defferentiation). Vertical difference

1. Enterprises should differentiate products across the three levels of the overall product and implement all-round differentiation.

If product differentiation is only reflected in the core product layer, it will be difficult to have durability, because a single

1. Differentiated product price positioning.

Popularly speaking, the positioning is different for high, middle, and low grades. For example, lighters, disposable lighters and ZIPPO are different in grades, so consumer groups are different.

2. Technical differentiation.

For example, Shangpengtang induction cooker adheres to the double-circle heating route to achieve uniform heating. Other brands use single-circle heating.

3. Functional differentiation.

It refers to the method of improving competitiveness by extending or adding different functions without changing the basic use value.

For example: Sony Ericsson mobile phone develops MP3 function

4. Cultural differentiation.

Selling different cultures, for example, Beijing cloth shoes are also shoes, but the cultural orientation of the sales target is different, so is Tao Yumei clothing, and ZIPPO is also selling a culture.

Generally speaking, companies can differentiate their products through the following strategies:

(1) R & D strategy. In order to differentiate their products from those of similar companies and establish a competitive advantage, companies must vigorously carry out research and

1. At the core level of the product, implement product differentiation through technological innovation and serialization of product functions. ^[2]

Case provided:

Perceptual tool design should make full use of the results of modern ergonomics and aesthetics to scientifically increase the perceptual factors in product design.

(l) Reflect the sensibility of the product through proper design of the relationship between people and tools. For example, the design of a good tool handle can withstand the impact of the pressure-insensitive palm and the "tiger mouth" between the thumb and index finger. , And reduce the local pressure intensity; some tools have finger grooves on the handle, this finger groove fixed finger position will affect the flexibility of operation. "Appropriate" ergonomic design is not only visually comfortable but "feel good".

(2) Increase the sensibility of the product by selecting appropriate modeling materials. When selecting materials to make parts that are in direct contact with people, we should not only use physical quantities such as the strength and wear resistance of the material to make the assessment, but also use the distance between the selected material and the person's emotional relationship as a measure. Studies have shown that the materials most closely related to human emotions are biological materials (such as cotton, wood, etc.), followed by natural materials (stone, earth, metal, glass, etc.), and then non-natural materials such as plastic materials. Generally speaking, the closer one is to humans, the more intimate and emotional it is.

(3) Express the sensibility of the product by studying the aesthetic methods of modern people. The beauty of products reflects the inherent beauty generated by reasonable human-machine relations and the external beauty generated by appearance in the use of products. Human aesthetics is constantly changing, especially the external beauty of products. The rich connotation of "beautiful shape" also includes the aesthetic factors in the change. The laws of beauty such as proportion and scale, contrast and balance, rhythm and rhythm are the sum of people's labor and the visual image of the product. Harmonization is an aesthetic factor. Understanding the changing aesthetics of modern people is good for grasping the perceptual factors in products.

(4) Exploring the causes and performance methods of product sensibility through the study of the relationship between the life phenomenon and form of things. The beauty of an object is often reflected in whether the form of the object is full of vitality, and the vitality of the form of the object is actually a leaked form of the essence of the object.