This assignment will focus on Monopolistic Competition, a market structure you encounter every day! As covered in Chapter 17, monopolistic competition features many sellers offering similar, but not identical, products.
Your Task:
Pick a Product: Head to a local store and choose a product category that exhibits monopolistic competition.
Observe and Analyze: Carefully examine the chosen product category. Here’s what to look for:
Price: Are there significant price variations between different brands within the category? What factors might explain these differences?
Packaging: How do the products use packaging to stand out? Do they highlight certain features or target specific customer preferences?
Shelf Placement: Is there any strategic placement within the category?
Advertising: Have you noticed any advertising for the products in this category? If so, what message are they trying to convey?
Analysis and Explanation: Based on your observations, answer the following:
How do these factors (price, packaging, placement, advertising) help each product differentiate itself from competitors?
What can you infer about the target market for each product based on these strategies?
Economic Concepts: Integrate your understanding of Monopolistic Competition by applying at least two economic concepts to your analysis and explain how they are relevant to the topic.
Please note this assignment is worth 100 points.
Discussion Post Guidelines:
Students must compose a 300-500 word post and include the word count at the end of the post.
Initial post must include three or more economic concepts.
Initial post and all responses should not have any spelling or grammatical errors.
Initial post must include three or more correctly referenced and cited sources in MLA or APA format.
Students are required to be courteous and professional in all responses to posts.
Please review the attached grading rubric for further guidance and email me any questions you may have.