Measuring the Time-Varying Response to Marketing Communication Instruments

A hallmark of the marketing environment is its dynamic nature. Market behavior in response to a firms marketing efforts is rarely constant, expecially for new products. The market needs more information early in the life of a product than it does later. Also, different segments of the population are attracted to the product at different stages in the product life; innovators will be more interested when the product is first introduced, while others that are less innovative will want to wait. It may be true that innovators respond differently to particular marketing efforts than do non-innovators. Markets for mature and declining products are also dynamic. Competitors enter or drop Out, consumer values shift, etc., affecting the response to marketing efforts. When a product has been made obsolete by an improved product, the perceived value of the product drops, and the market is less likely to be responsive to a firms marketing activity.