Your firm just completed its annual marketing strategies conference where all the top marketers in the firm get together to discuss last year's sales and marketing performance. In this year's meeting, there was a lot of discussion about improving the firm's product life cycle management. There was a lot of discussion about how best to manage a product that is in the decline stage. You were assigned the responsibility for managing all products in the decline stage using a harvesting approach. Based on this directive, you will:
A)immediately withdraw all marketing support for products in the decline stage.
B)arrange for another firm to acquire the products in the decline stage.
C)slowly increase marketing expenditures on products in the decline stage.
D)gradually reduce marketing expenditures on products in the decline stage.
E)develop an aggressive, resource-intensive marketing mix for products in the decline stage.

Question

​Your firm just completed its annual marketing strategies conference where all the top marketers in the firm get together to discuss last year's sales and marketing performance. In this year's meeting, there was a lot of discussion about improving the firm's product life cycle management. There was a lot of discussion about how best to manage a product that is in the decline stage. You were assigned the responsibility for managing all products in the decline stage using a harvesting approach. Based on this directive, you will:
A)immediately withdraw all marketing support for products in the decline stage.
B)arrange for another firm to acquire the products in the decline stage.
C)slowly increase marketing expenditures on products in the decline stage.
D)gradually reduce marketing expenditures on products in the decline stage.
E)develop an aggressive, resource-intensive marketing mix for products in the decline stage.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The best choice when managing products in the decline stage with a harvesting approach is to gradually reduce marketing expenditures on these products. This approach involves reducing costs and maximizing profits as the product's demand continues to decline. It is not advisable to immediately withdraw all marketing support as there may still be some loyal customers or niche markets buying these products. Arranging for another firm to acquire these products may not be feasible or profitable. Developing an aggressive marketing mix for products in the decline stage may be wasteful and not yield enough returns. Therefore, gradually reducing marketing expenditures is the best approach to manage products in the decline stage using a harvesting strategy.

​Your Firm Just Completed Its Annual Marketing Strategies Conference Where

Your Firm Just Completed Its Annual Marketing Strategies Conference Where