The number of products within a product line is a firms product line blank______.

Product mix, also known as product assortment, refers to the total number of product lines a company offers to its customers. For example, your company may sell multiple lines of products. Your product lines may be fairly similar, such as dish washing liquid and bar soap, which are both used for cleaning and use similar technologies. Or your product lines may be vastly different, such as diapers and razors.

The four dimensions to a company's product mix include width, length, depth and consistency.

Tip

Product mix, also known as product assortment, refers to the total number of product lines a company offers to its customers. The four dimensions to a company's product mix include width, length, depth and consistency.

Width: Number of Product Lines

The width, or breadth, of a company's product mix pertains to the number of product lines the company sells. For example, if you own EZ Tool Company and have two product lines – hammers and wrenches – your product mix width is two.

Small and upstart businesses will usually not have a wide product mix. It is more practical to start with some basic products and build market share. Later on, the company's technology may allow the company to diversify into other industries and build the width of the product mix.

Length: Total Products

The product mix length is the total number of products or items in your company's product mix. For example, EZ Tool has two product lines, hammers and wrenches. In the hammer product line are claw hammers, ball peen hammers, sledge hammers, roofing hammers and mallet hammers. The wrench line contains Allen wrenches, pipe wrenches, ratchet wrenches, combination wrenches and adjustable wrenches.

Thus, EZ Tool's product mix length would be 10. Companies that have multiple product lines will sometimes keep track of their average length per product line. In this case, the average length of your company's product line is five.

Depth: Product Variations

Depth of a product mix pertains to the total number of variations for each product. Variations can include size, flavor and any other distinguishing characteristic. For example, if your company sells three sizes and two flavors of toothpaste, that particular line of toothpaste has a depth of six. Just like length, companies sometimes report the average depth of their product lines; or the depth of a specific product line.

If the company also has another line of toothpaste, and that line comes in two flavors and two sizes, its depth is four. Since one line has a depth of six and the second line has a depth of four, your company's average depth of product lines is five (6+4=10, 10/2=5).

Consistency is Relationship

Product mix consistency describes how closely related product lines are to one another – in terms of use, production and distribution. Your company's product mix may be consistent in distribution but vastly different in use. For example, your company may sell health bars and a health magazine in retail stores. However, one product is edible and the other is not.

The production consistency of these products would vary as well, so your product mix is not consistent. Your toothpaste company's product lines, however, are both toothpaste. They have the same use and are produced and distributed the same way. So, your toothpaste company's product lines are consistent.

Product Market Mix Strategy

Small companies usually start out with a product mix limited in width, depth and length; and have a high level of consistency. However, over time, the company may want to differentiate products or acquire new ones to enter new markets. They may also add to their lines similar products that are of higher or lower quality to offer different choices and price points.

This is called stretching the product line. When you add higher quality, more expensive products, it's called upward stretching. If you add lesser quality, lower priced items, it's called downward stretching.

journal article

Marketing Science

Vol. 18, No. 2 (1999)

, pp. 137-153 (17 pages)

Published By: INFORMS

https://www.jstor.org/stable/193213

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Abstract

Considering the number of new product introductions and available product varieties today, the practice of product proliferation is visibly evident in many diverse industries. Given its prevalence in practice, understanding the determinants and implications of firm proliferation strategies clearly has important managerial relevance. Previous theoretical research has identified three primary effects of a proliferation strategy: (1) a broad product line can increase the overall demand faced by the firm, (2) a broad product line can affect supply by increasing costs, and (3) broad product lines can have strategic consequences (e.g., long product lines can deter entry, thereby allowing an incumbent firm to raise prices). However, despite the theoretical interest in this common business practice, there has been very little empirical research on this topic. Moreover, no empirical study has simultaneously considered all three of the possible effects associated with a proliferation strategy. Consequently, in this paper we propose a three-equation simultaneous system that captures both the determinants and market outcomes of a firm's product line decisions. In particular, we specify market share, price, and product line length equations, which are estimated by three stage least squares. Using this structure, we empirically study the personal computer industry over the period 1981-1992. Our empirical results demonstrate that proliferation strategies do not have a uni-dimensional explanation. We find that product proliferation decisions have both demand (market share) and supply (price) implications. Our empirical results also suggest that the firm-level net market share impact of product proliferation in the personal computer industry is negative (i.e., the cost increases associated with a broader product line dominate any potential demand increases). As expected, we find that structural competitive factors play an important role in the determinants and market outcomes of a firm's product line decisions. However, we do not find evidence of firms using proliferation strategies to deter entry in this industry. Finally, we also demonstrate that some of the empirical conclusions from previous research are reversed once product line length is specified as endogenous in the share and price specifications.

Journal Information

Discover the latest findings in the global marketplace with detailed results prepared through rigorous scientific methodology. Reviewed by prestigious scholars in the field of marketing science, articles often feature game theory, econometrics, multivariate analysis, econometric modeling, and choice models. Advertising Consumer choice modeling Interactions between manufacturers and retailers Market research Pricing decisions Purchase behavior Revenue forecasting

Publisher Information

With over 12,500 members from around the globe, INFORMS is the leading international association for professionals in operations research and analytics. INFORMS promotes best practices and advances in operations research, management science, and analytics to improve operational processes, decision-making, and outcomes through an array of highly-cited publications, conferences, competitions, networking communities, and professional development services.

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