Editing Product differentiation (section)

== History ==
[[Edward Chamberlin]]’s (1933) seminal work on [[monopolistic]] competition mentioned the theory of differentiation, which maintained that for available products within the same industry, customers may have different preferences. However, a generic strategy of differentiation popularized by [[Michael Porter]] (1980) proposed that differentiation is any product (tangible or intangible) perceived as “being unique” by at least one set of customers. Hence, it depends on customers' perception of the extent of product differentiation. Even until 1999, the consequences of these concepts were not well understood. In fact, Miller (1986) proposed marketing and [[innovation]] as two differentiation strategies, which was supported by some scholars like Lee and Miller (1999). Mintzberg (1988) proposed more specific but broad categories: quality, design, support, image, price, and undifferentiated products, which received support from Kotha and Vadlamani (1995). However, IO literature (Ethiraj & Zhu, 2008; Makadok, 2010, 2011) did deeper analysis into the theory and explored a clear distinction between the wide use of vertical and horizontal differentiation.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Becerra|first1=Manuel|last2=Santaló|first2=Juan|last3=Silva|first3=Rosario|title=Being better vs. being different: Differentiation, competition, and pricing strategies in the Spanish hotel industry|journal=Tourism Management|date=23 March 2012|volume=34|issue=Elsevier|page=72|doi=10.1016/J.TOURMAN.2012.03.014|s2cid=6108921}}</ref>