MARKET RESPONSE TO A MAJOR POLICY CHANGE IN THE MARKETING MIX:
LEARNING FROM P&G’S VALUE PRICING STRATEGY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Most research on how consumers and competitors respond to advertising and promotion focuses
on response to short-term changes in these marketing instruments. In contrast, this paper uses
Procter & Gamble’s value pricing strategy as an opportunity to study consumer and competitor
response to a major, sustained change in marketing mix strategy. We compile data for 118
brands across 24 product categories where P&G is a player, covering a seven-year period from
1990-1996 when P&G initiated and broadly implemented its value pricing strategy in the U.S.
During this period, the company instituted major cuts in deals and coupons and substantial
increases in advertising across its product line. We use regression-based models to examine how
consumers and competitors reacted to these changes, and trace the net impact on market share.
Our consumer response model decomposes market share into penetration, share of requirements,
and category usage among the brand’s customers. For the average brand, we find that deals and
coupons increase penetration and, somewhat surprisingly, have little effect on customer retention
as measured by SOR and USE. For the average brand, advertising also works primarily by
increasing penetration but its effect is weaker than that of promotion. We find little evidence that
advertising increases SOR or USE among a brand’s existing users. Overall, advertising is more
beneficial for small brands while promotion is more beneficial for large brands. Our competitor
2
response model shows that response is related to how strongly the competitor’s market share is
affected by the change in P&G’s marketing mix (through cross-elasticities) and how strongly its
own reaction will affect its share (through self-elasticities). Competitors also respond differently
due to structural factors such as market share position and multi-market contact, and due to firmspecific
effects. Competitors do not react the same way on all marketing instruments. They
tended to decrease advertising and coupons but used deals to gain market share even when they
were benefiting from P&G's policy change. We find that the net impact of consumer and
competitor response is a decrease in market share for the initiating company, although it is
plausible that its profits increased. The loss in penetration resulting from promotion cuts is not
offset by increases in SOR or by competitive reactions. It appears that cuts in promotion, even if
coupled with increases in advertising, will not grow market share for the average established
brand in mature consumer goods categories. We discuss the implications of these and other
findings for both researchers and practitioners.
MARKET RESPONSE TO A MAJOR POLICY CHANGE IN THE MARKETING MIX:
LEARNING FROM P&G’S VALUE PRICING STRATEGY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Most research on how consumers and competitors respond to advertising and promotion focuses
on response to short-term changes in these marketing instruments. In contrast, this paper uses
Procter & Gamble’s value pricing strategy as an opportunity to study consumer and competitor
response to a major, sustained change in marketing mix strategy. We compile data for 118
brands across 24 product categories where P&G is a player, covering a seven-year period from
1990-1996 when P&G initiated and broadly implemented its value pricing strategy in the U.S.
During this period, the company instituted major cuts in deals and coupons and substantial
increases in advertising across its product line. We use regression-based models to examine how
consumers and competitors reacted to these changes, and trace the net impact on market share.
Our consumer response model decomposes market share into penetration, share of requirements,
and category usage among the brand’s customers. For the average brand, we find that deals and
coupons increase penetration and, somewhat surprisingly, have little effect on customer retention
as measured by SOR and USE. For the average brand, advertising also works primarily by
increasing penetration but its effect is weaker than that of promotion. We find little evidence that
advertising increases SOR or USE among a brand’s existing users. Overall, advertising is more
beneficial for small brands while promotion is more beneficial for large brands. Our competitor
2
response model shows that response is related to how strongly the competitor’s market share is
affected by the change in P&G’s marketing mix (through cross-elasticities) and how strongly its
own reaction will affect its share (through self-elasticities). Competitors also respond differently
due to structural factors such as market share position and multi-market contact, and due to firmspecific
effects. Competitors do not react the same way on all marketing instruments. They
tended to decrease advertising and coupons but used deals to gain market share even when they
were benefiting from P&G's policy change. We find that the net impact of consumer and
competitor response is a decrease in market share for the initiating company, although it is
plausible that its profits increased. The loss in penetration resulting from promotion cuts is not
offset by increases in SOR or by competitive reactions. It appears that cuts in promotion, even if
coupled with increases in advertising, will not grow market share for the average established
brand in mature consumer goods categories. We discuss the implications of these and other
findings for both researchers and practitioners.
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..
