Differentiation

Differentiation may refer to:

See also

Differentiation (journal)

Differentiation is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering cell differentiation and cell development. It was established in 1973 and is published 10 times per year by Elsevier, on behalf of the International Society of Differentiation. The editor-in-chief is Nadia Rosenthal (Imperial College London). According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2013 impact factor of 2.836.

References

External links

Product differentiation

In economics and marketing, product differentiation (or simply differentiation) is the process of distinguishing a product or service from others, to make it more attractive to a particular target market. This involves differentiating it from competitors' products as well as a firm's own products. The concept was proposed by Edward Chamberlin in his 1933 Theory of Monopolistic Competition.

Rationale

Firms have different resource endowments that enable them to construct specific competitive advantages over competitors. Resource endowments allow firms to be different which reduces competition and makes it possible to reach new segments of the market. Thus, differentiation is the process of distinguishing the differences of a product or offering from others, to make it more attractive to a particular target market.

Although research in a niche market may result in changing a product in order to improve differentiation, the changes themselves are not differentiation. Marketing or product differentiation is the process of describing the differences between products or services, or the resulting list of differences. This is done in order to demonstrate the unique aspects of a firm's product and create a sense of value. Marketing textbooks are firm on the point that any differentiation must be valued by buyers (a differentiation attempt that is not perceived does not count). The term unique selling proposition refers to advertising to communicate a product's differentiation.