The Nature of Firms Manufacturing non-industrial non-Communications Microwave Products in the U.S.A.*

Abstract

AbstractThere are several product areas in the non-industrial, non-communications microwave product field that have developed in the U.S.A. Two of these micro-wave product areas are: (1) home security devices, and (2) microwave ovens.The nature of the firms producing products in these areas appear to cover a wide range in terms of such factors as annual sales, diversity of products, marketing channels used, and years of interest in specific products.The thrust of this study is to present an analysis of the nature of the firms participating in each of these two fields. The data collected were used to test two hypotheses which are stated here:(1) As a consumer product progresses along the growth portion of the life cycle curve the increased potential for substantial sales volume tends to cause product interest to be shown by the larger corporations.(2) As a consumer product progresses along the growth portion of the life cycle curve the pattern of marketing channels used will tend to shift.