Core product
| Core product |
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Core product (also known as a basic product) is the most important service, benefit, need satisfaction or use that satisfy a customer. Buyers do not purchase products only for the main use. They buy products for all benefits which a product may give, what that product can do for a buyer. That means that every product has many attributes, but the one part that satisfies the basic need is a core product [1] [2].
Examples of a core product
The easiest way of understanding the core product term is to describe few examples [3] [4] [5]:
- In a product which is a holiday package, core products are the accommodation and flight.
- When you buy a laundry detergent the core product of it is cleanliness.
- In a restaurant the core product is food.
- The core product of a car is transportation.
Core product in marketing
The core product is regularly defined out of three interrelated measurements [6] [7]:
- People – The interaction between all people related to the company (customer, employees, other customers related to service delivery).
- Processes – all activities in the service delivery process.
- Physical evidence – any tangible evidence of the service (the service, people, equipment, written materials).
The core product is one of many components and it is definitely not enough for maintaining long-term customer relationships and to guarantee customer satisfaction. The fact is that every customer expects the core product to be high quality and provided basic needs. As an example we can refer to a telephone. The core product is the ease of communication and a user expects it to work always. If the service is unavailable, which means that the core product does not stand out at a level that meets basic customer expectation, the long term relationship and trustworthiness are no longer exist. What is more, companies do not market many products with the core products in mind, because these things became obvious and not attractive.
Footnotes
References
- Bolke S., (2013), Strategic Marketing Concepts of Airlines in the German Passenger Market. Present Challenges, Grin Publishing, Munich.
- Canwell D., Sutherland J., (2003), Leisure and tourism, Nelson Thornes, Cheltenham.
- Dibb S., (1996), The marketing planning workbook : effective marketing for marketing managers., Thomson Learning, London.
- Ferrell O. C., Hartline M., (2011), Marketing Strategy, Cengage Learning, Mason.
- Kalb I. S., (2004), E-Marketing: What Went Wrong and How to Do It Right, K&A Press, Santa Monica.
- Machado R., Cassim S., (2002), Marketing for entrepreneurs, Lansdowne, Juta.
Author: Weronika Kaca
