LESSON 9 ESSAY It is important to understand the concept that when a consumer makes a purchase of goods or services, they aren’t simply buying just that single good or service. In fact, they are actually buying a complete package, that consists of layers that make up the good or service as a whole. We call this the product layers. The layers of a product include the core benefit, actual product, and product augmentation. Without gaining a full understanding of these layers, as the seller, it is unlikely that the success rate will be high. This is because the most appealing products, are the products that are sold when all of these layers are intact, and well thought out. The first layer is core benefit. The objective in this layer, is to give the consumer what they want or what they need. This is one thing every customer has in common, no matter what sense you’re talking about, everyone has something that they want when they are looking to purchase something, and there is a specific need for the person, respectively. Elements that make up the core benefit include things like entertainment, transportation, general welfare, health benefits or improvements, communication, organization, and even education. Today, most consumers buy things that include secondary benefits. Secondary benefits give the product something more, setting one product apart from another. This is more appealing to the consumer as it includes the want or need that they have when purchasing this product, as well as, a little extra. An example of a core benefit could range anywhere from music players that fulfill the entertainment element, to buying a new vehicle, or laptop computer. A vehicle would provide transportation, and fulfill some of the leisure aspect. While a laptop computer, could be something that helps with education, as well as communication. If someone goes to the doctor, the reason they are there, usually is because they are sick, the doctor provides his or her services to the patient to make them feel better, or writes them a prescription for medication to help them feel better, overall, benefitting the patient with their health, or general welfare. A smart phone is an example of a product that has secondary core benefits. The main benefit or use for this product, obviously would be communication. Being able to call your friends and family from any place at any time, is probably why someone would want to buy a cell phone. But a secondary benefit of a cellular device would be the entertainment factor, you can listen to music, play games, go online, check your e-mails, take and store photos, the list goes on and on. Next, we will talk about layer two, actual product. As the name clearly states, this is the product itself. This can be a little on the tough side, to distinguish when we are talking services. The service may be a massage at a spa, whereas the actual product would be the masseuse, or the person administering the service to you. Things that are included in that actual product include things like the brand name, and the services that make up the product, as well as sometimes even so much as the packing of the product. The quality and performance of the product must be in-sync and up-to-date as the times constantly continue to change and rapidly grow technologically. For example, the Samsung Galaxy SI, SII, SIII, SIIII, and the iPhone 3, 3g, 4, 4s, 5, 5c, 6, etc. These are actual products, which perform services to a consumer, and include all of the attributes that make each one unique and appealing to consumers, from one moment to the next. These phones, are all actually providing communication abilities, and entertainment purposes, serving the consumer and fulfilling their wants and needs. Moving on to the third and final layer, this layer is called product augmentation. This is the part of the products, which are sort of incentives, or attention grabbing features. They are what the product is wrapped in, or comes with. Like,