critical mass
(noun)
A quantity or amount required to trigger a phenomenon.
Examples of critical mass in the following topics:
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The Rate of Adoption
- Within the rate of adoption there is a point at which an innovation reaches critical mass.
- Critical mass is the time in the adoption curve when enough individuals have adopted an innovation so that the continued adoption of the innovation is self-sustaining.
- This graph depicts the innovation curve and the tipping point, or critical mass.
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Branding
- Brands in the field of mass marketing originated with the advent of packaged goods in the 19th century.
- Factories established during the Industrial Revolution introduced mass-produced goods to sell their products to a wider market.
- When this recognition builds up to a point where a brand enjoys a critical mass of positive sentiment, it is said to have achieved brand franchise.
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Digital Media and Intellectual Property Issues
- Some critics label the unauthorized distribution and copying of commercial products as piracy, or digital copyright infringement.
- However, critics of intellectual property laws argue that these measures attempt to simplify complex copyright laws by lumping them under a collective term.
- Copyleft and free software activists have criticized the implied analogy of digital property with physical property such as land or cars.
- Some critics of intellectual property, such as those in the free culture movement, point to intellectual monopoly privilege as harming health, preventing progress, and benefiting concentrated interests to the detriment of the masses.
- These critics also argue that the public interest is harmed by ever expansive monopolies in the form of copyright extensions, software patents, and business method patents.
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Global Marketing Standardization
- Worldwide communications ensure the instant diffusion of new lifestyles and pave the way for a mass transfer of goods and services.
- Critics of Levitt's perspective suggest that his argument for global standardization is inaccurate and that market strategy should be customized to each country.
- While critics of Levitt can proffer thousands of anecdotes contradicting the validity of standardization, a more careful read of Levitt's ideas indicate that he offers standardization as a strategic option, not a fact.
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Are Global Corporations Beneficial?
- MNC operations often attain economies of scale, through mass producing in external markets at substantially cheaper costs, or economies of scope, through horizontal expansion into new geographic markets.
- Public Relations: Public image and branding are critical components of most businesses.
- There are differences in strategies and approaches in every geographic location worldwide, and attracting talented managers with high intercultural competence is a critical step in developing an efficient global strategy.
- Along with arguments supporting the benefits of a more globally-connected economy, there are criticisms that question the profits that are captured.
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Customer Concerns
- This is especially true for business-to-business (B2B) companies where stakeholders often provide constructive criticism to help marketing, sales, and technical departments adapt product offerings to meet changing customer needs.
- Mass product recalls are examples of company efforts to limit liability or avoid costly legal penalties due to corporate negligence.
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Making Appropriate Changes to Product, Placement, Promotion, and Pricing
- The shift from mass media to more specialized (niche) media, which are centered on specific target audiences.
- When Nestlé attempted to respond to the criticism via Facebook, the public backlash was severe.
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Trends
- Critics argue that the more electric cars that are driven, the more pollution from smokestacks at the plants that provide the electric power.
- This is an example of a "trend" that marketers predicted to be more popular than they actually were once mass-produced.
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Concentrated Targeting
- Concentrated targeting is particularly effective for small companies with limited resources as it does not require the use of mass production, mass distribution, and mass advertising.
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Undifferentiated Targeting
- Viewing the market as a homogeneous aggregate leads to undifferentiated targeting and mass marketing.
- Traditionally, undifferentiated marketing (also known as "mass marketing") has focused on radio, television, and newspapers as the medium used to reach this broad audience.
- A truckload of general advertising is done to the mass market in the hope that some of them will hit a target.
- Many mass marketed items are considered staple items.