Proceedings of the 2nd Business & Management Conference, Madrid

MARKET CATEGORY GENERATION BY META-CONTRAST THESIS

AKIRA YOSHINARI

Abstract:

This study is based on the J.C. Turner et al. discussion of self-categorization and investigates generated categories in relation to existing categories. The research question in this study was: Does the existence of parallel categories clearly set boundaries for new categories? The aim of this study is to demonstrate the generation of categories in this market with cases of Japanese mini insurance. The conclusions were, firstly, that new product categories are generated in relation to parallel product categories and secondly that, if products have labels that can be clearly compared with parallel product categories, consumers can clearly see the boundaries between new and existing categories.

Keywords: category in market, meta-contrast thesis, emergence of category

DOI: 10.20472/BMC.2015.002.016

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