Analyze how products evolve through the four stages of the product life cycle.

Assignment 1: product development | nursing 101 | University of Georgia

The four stages of the product life cycle are Introduction, Growth, Maturity, and Decline. In the introduction stage, a company will introduce a new product to the market in order to gain consumer recognition and build brand awareness. During this phase, companies tend to invest heavily in marketing and promotion activities as well as provide incentives such as discounts or loyalty programs in order to increase sales. Following this is the growth stage when demand for the product increases due to increased consumer acceptance or changing market conditions. Companies typically focus on optimizing their production processes during this time while continuing with promotional efforts. This leads into the maturity stage when demand stabilizes and profits start declining due to increased competition and saturation of the market. At this point, companies often look towards diversification strategies such as introducing new products or expanding into new markets in order to maintain profitability.

Lastly, comes decline where excessive competition eventually causes prices and profits from sales of that particular product/service to drop drastically leading up its discontinuation thus bringing an end to its life cycle. It is important for companies at each stage of the product life cycle be able to accurately identify what stage they are currently in so that they can adjust their marketing strategies accordingly.