The Changing Consumer Preferences

Consumer preferences are rapidly changing and they do so without any form of warning. When the preferences change the nature of the market also changes. The customers now see the old products as being boring .This means that companies have to make adjustments so that they can remain in business. This can be achieved through scrapping off old products and offer completely new products or make modifications on the old product. Companies should ensure that they are aware of any changes on consumer preferences and react to them.

Companies have to apply a differentiation strategy in order for them to cater for the changes of preferences by their customers. This is what is termed as gaining a competitive advantage over competitors. There are several examples whereby companies had to make such changes in order to remain relevant in the market. One example is the emergence of laptops. Initially the only computers that existed were desktops .It was not possible for a person to use the desktops any other place apart from where it was placed. This means that one could not move the computer from one place to another; they could only use it from a particular point. Customers wanted a device which they could easily move around with (Pfeffer, 2004). Therefore, companies started producing laptops which are portable. One can easily move with their laptop from one place to another. Therefore, with the laptop there was a lot of efficiency which is what most of the customers wanted. Today, a great deal of the computer market is controlled by laptops as opposed to the desktops (Montgomery & Porter, 2001).

Another example is the emergence of green products. People today are becoming more and more cautious when it comes to their environment. This means that they are now looking to purchase products which are environmentally friendly. Consumers are now purchasing green products from the food they eat to appliances and electronics. For this reason most of the companies are now producing green products. The market today is now dominated by green products meaning that most of the companies are now going the green way (Porter, 1995).

Response to forum posts

The first forum post on examining porter’s five forces with regards to a beer selling company has been examined adequately. This is because the writer has effectively looked at the product with respect to all the porter’s five forces. The writer has pointed out each of the five porter’s forces and related it directly to the actions the company should take regarding the product. The writer has clearly given solutions to the issues raised regarding the product for it to gain a competitive advantage.

The second forum post the writer begins by pointing out the main reason why people go into business and how competitive advantage enables the business achieve their goal. The writer also clearly gives the meaning of competitive advantage and how it is achieved. The writer gives examples of companies that have gained a competitive advantage. A clear description of how each of these companies has a competitive advantage is also shown. Therefore, I can say that the writer has fully described how a competitive advantage is gained by these companies

References

Montgomery, C. A., & Porter, M. E. (2001). Strategy: seeking and securing competitive advantage. Boston: [Harvard Business School Press].

Pfeffer, J. (2004). Competitive advantage through people: unleashing the power of the work force. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.

Porter, M. E. (1995). Competitive advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance. New York: Free Press;