24 Jul Product lifecycle
Introduction and Background
Product Life Cycle (PLC) has been a compelling theory and commonly accepted in marketing for its widespread applications in marketing strategic planning. It is a simple model based on the biological concept of human life, which starts with infancy and develops through growth, maturity, and decline (Day, 1981).
Although the literature does not confirm the paternity of the theory, marketing researchers agree that it was coined in 1950 to explain the life phases of a new product (Edward, 1992; E.K. Hiltstorm and L. C. Hilstorm, 2002). On one end, Hilstorm et al. (2002) stipulate that the concept came from Carole Headden’s observation that the life cycle of a product may be represented by four distinct phases: introduction to the market, market growth, market maturity, and market decline. On the other end, Edward (1992) attributes the paternity of the Product Life Cycle theory to Joel Dean (1950) who describes the dynamism, the constant changes and the adjustment requirements of a new product in his article “Pricing Policy for a New Product”.