Assignment 1: Discussion-Factors and Trends that Influence Strategy Development

In this module, you will explore how businesses react to changing economic times and the influence this has on product and service positioning in the market place. You will also learn about the different approaches an organization may take such as a retrenchment approach, an investment approach, or an ambidextrous approach to provide a foundation for opportunity and risk in recessionary times.

Consumer spending habits have undergone dramatic and enduring change with the slowed economy in the United States.

Using the module readings, Argosy University online library resources, and the Internet, respond to the following:

• What are the factors that are key for establishing product differentiation in the new post-recession consumer environment especially as it relates to economic indicators?

• What is a luxury good and should marketers of luxury goods abandon their efforts to establish premium pricing?

• How do changes in societal attitudes toward companies and products affect the way marketers of consumer goods think about the customer value chain? Provide examples of companies that have changed their approach to marketing in response to a shift in consumers' value in changing economic times.

Write your initial response in approximately 300 words.