the total product concept & 3 levels
TRANSCRIPT
The total product concept
An important product concept is, of course, that of the product itself. We already know from our early definition of marketing that we are not in the business of selling products, but in the business of satisfying customers' needs and wants. We also know from our study of buying behaviour and positioning that customers are interested in acquiring perceived benefits with their purchases, rather than just the physical object itself. Thus, as defined by Boone and Kurtz (2005, p. 318) a product is:
...a bundle of physical, service,and symbolic attributes designed to satisfy a customer's wants and needs.
This means that the same physical object may be several different products. The variance arises because of the different needs and wants of different customers, and because of their different perceptions of the physical object. For example, WD-40 is a spray lubricant in a pressure pack. One person might see it as a product for degreasing their car engine; another might use it to lubricate fishing gear; another might buy it to stop doors and windows from squeaking. Thus a product can be more precisely referred to as the total product concept , and one that contains three levels:
the core product, that is the benefits which are being purchased the actual product, that is the tangible item(s) the augmented product, that is the service components and intangibles.
Figure 6.1 provides a diagrammatic representation of the total product concept and its three levels using Close-Up toothpaste as the example. The diagram is particularly useful in its display of the augmented product but ¾ be careful ¾ it might confuse you with its treatment of the core and actual products. We are using the three levels of product described as core, actual and augmented. The diagram presents these as the essential benefit, core and augmented respectively. So Figure 6.1 is using 'essential benefit' to refer to what we are calling 'core'; and they are using 'core' to refer to what we are calling 'actual.
Consider this
Do you think different authors' use of different terminology for the same thing might imply that it is the concept that is more important than the terminology?
Figure 6.1 The total product concept and its three levels Source: Zikmund and d'Amico (1995, p. 235)
As you can see, the benefits being purchased with the toothpaste are clean teeth and prevention of tooth decay, that is, the core product. The actual product is
the toothpaste itself. However, the augmented product is many additional things. The toothpaste comes in a flip-cap package so it provides the benefits of ease of
use and convenient storage. The brand name is intended to suggest social confidence, romance and white teeth. The
flavour offers a pleasant taste and fresh-smelling breath, and so on. It is the augmented product that offers so many opportunities in positioning a product.