Analysis of the behaviour of the clients assisted and sales variables in the different phases of the product life cycle

Abstract

Purpose The Bass model was created to analyse the product life cycle (PLC) in order to help sales and marketing departments in their business decision making. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the diferences between the clients assisted and sales variables, to discover which of the two variables is the more useful for the estimation of the PLC phases through the Bass model, thus aiding the managers of company sales and marketing departments. Design/methodology/approach In this research, the authors analysed the 223,577 clients assisted by a nationwide network of car dealerships, who acquired 36,819 vehicles, during a 24-month period. In the analysis, the Bass model was applied to define the PLC phases; and nonlinear regression models were used to carry out the estimations. Findings The results show that more consistent estimates of the PLC phases are obtained from the clients assisted variable. This work has theoretical and practical implications that can help business management. Research limitations/implications The most remarkable thing about this research is that we have shown that the functionality of the clients assisted variable is greater than the sales variable for the Bass model and, therefore, for PLC estimation. Practical implications The results of this research are very useful, since they allow marketing decision makers to obtain more consistent estimations of the PLC phases using the Bass model and the clients assisted variable. This is based on the fact that the use of this variable helps to detect if there is any deficiency in the design of the marketing strategy when the client does not make the purchase. Social implications The data on clients assisted are as easily available to companies as sales data. However, the use of this variable improves PLC analysis and this allows an improvement in company forecasting. Thus, making the clients assisted variable a tool to strategically plan investments in innovation and marketing would reduce uncertainty in business management. Originality/value The purpose of this paper is to analyse the diferences between the clients assisted and sales variables, to discover which of the two variables is the more useful for the estimation of the PLC phases through the Bass model, thus aiding the managers of company sales and marketing departments.

Learning from the sales conversion rate throughout its Product Life Cycle analysis: a case of study for the Spanish Automotive sector

“…Consequently, this work proposes to use this atypical behaviour with the aim of orientating more effi ciently the business sales and to attract clients to the point of sales, mainly during the launch phase of the PLC. This article is in line with the results obtained in the previous work of Galiano, Rodríguez and Saco (2018) in which, using the Bass model, these authors dated the phases of the PLC in durable consumer products. The research pointed out the importance of defi ning the phases of the PLC using the assisted clients variable, but the behaviour of the evolution of the conversion rate in sales along the phases of the PLC was not explored; an aspect that the authors consider of great importance.…”

“…The parameter studied is the conversion rate and we demonstrate with a time series analysis that the temporal evolution of the series itself, draw the phases of the cycle, so that, the evolution of the series itself fi ts perfectly the phases of the cycle of the product. The authors dated in a previous article the phases of the cycle for this specifi c product by using the Bass model methodology (Galiano, Rodríguez, & Saco, 2018). So the aim of this article is not to do the same but to apply a time series analysis to corroborate that the evolution of the series itself draw the life cycle of the product, and this happens when the conversion rate variable is used.…”

Research on the Reasons for the Formation of Sports Players’ Brand Value

“…The research on product life cycle in marketing is divided into two types: the product life cycle based on Bass product diffusion model theory and the exploratory research on the commonality of the product life cycle in different industries [8]. The life cycle of products in the market includes four stages: entry, growth, maturity, and decline [8]. The duration of each stage varies for products in different industries.…”