Product Differentiation and Non-price Competition

This volume examines the three stages of the supply side of a market: the decision of firms to participate in the market; the selection of specific product characteristics in design, function and quality; and the formulation and execution of pricing and advertising strategies. Focusing on the influence of the product selection stage, Ireland looks at the ways in which consumers' demands for variety affect the oligopoly marketing games. He examines the various strategies adopted by firms to deter potential competitors: advertising, quality competition, or "creaming" the market of those customers willing to pay top dollar. This is an up-to-date treatment of key topics in the new industrial economics.