Market segmentation (finance) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Market segmentation (finance) - Essay Example Given the analogy of a layer cake, product differentiation seeks to secure a layer of the cake, whereas segmentation seeks a wedge. Successful product development requires the utilization of both product differentiation and market segmentation. The former strategy adjusts or bends demand conditions to meet the sellers conditions. The latter represents a more precise adjustment of products and production to market conditions (Weinstein 32). Market segmentation often results from substantial growth. After markets are developed on some general basis, they reach the point where additional effort tends to yield diminishing returns, and attention is given to specific market segments that become large enough to be attractive. By cultivating specific market segments, companies seek to make use of a greater opportunity to maximize customer satisfactions. This maximization, in turn, results in the development of a more secure market position and posture. As products are designed to serve the needs of individual customers, they assume a special character and increase their distinctiveness. The closer the product is to the point of customer purchase, the more differentiated it becomes, and less flexibility is available to the manufacturer. For some products, the demand of an individual customer may be unique, and the product takes on rigidity (Weinstein 76). For instance, Adidas segments its market for sport professionals and non-professionals, women, men and children. Where possible, manufacturers would like to reduce risks by postponing differentiation as long as possible, and only incurring changes in form and product identity at the latest possible point in the flow of marketing. Because of this, particular attention is given to a discussion of new products, their adoption and diffusion processes, the product life cycle, and new-product failures. There are other significant demographic factors that affect consumption patterns. For example, if

Cell molecular biology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cell molecular biology - Essay Example array expression data for the cyclin genes of Tetrhymena thermophila were collected in an attempt to assess the role of individual cyclin gene products in the complex process of conjugation that characterizes the cell division cycle of this unicellular eukaryotic microorganism. The expression data were obtained from genomic databases and also from reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR) performed to explore the cyclic expression patterns of the cyclin mRNAs during the cell cycle of T. thermophila. The results of this analysis indicated that most of the 23 identified cyclin genes in this microorganism are transcriptionally activated at specific points during the cell cycle. The combined assessment of expression patterns and comparative sequence analysis with studies that detail the sequence of cellular events that characterizes the process of conjugation were used to generate a hypothesis about the putative functions of each of the cyclin genes of T. thermophila in t he unique series of meiotic and meitotic cell divisions that characterizes the process of conjugation. The process of cell division in the ciliated protozoans involves a complex pattern of meiotic and mitotic cell divisions as well as major nuclear restructuring events that comprise a mode of cell division that involves mechanisms of genetic exchange that characterize the unique pattern of sexual reproduction in this primitive eukaryotic microorganism that is called conjugation. This process is initiated in response to stressful environmental conditions. The initial event involves the pairing of two cells of different mating types (I-IV) followed by meiosis and the exchange of the haploid nuclei produced during meiotic cell division. Subsequently, the nucleus of the zygote in each cell engages in several rounds of mitotic cell division. The end result is the production of two nuclei with each cell: a transcriptionally silent micronucleus and a transcriptionally active