answer the the 2 peer responses

Supply and Demand

Using the product or service that you have selected for your assignments, respond to all of the below prompts:

• Is it an inferior, normal, or luxury product, or service?
• What are its substitutes and complements, if any?
• In what ways does your product or service provide utility to your customers?
• Name one strong utility feature and one weak utility feature of the product or service.

As described in the lecture, discuss one factor that has shifted demand OR supply of your product or service within the last year.

peer #1

Using the product or service that you have selected for your assignments, respond to all of the below prompts:

• Is it an inferior, normal, or luxury product, or service? The service I have selected is healthcare, which is a normal service.
• What are its substitutes and complements, if any? In healthcare, there are substitutions and complements depending on different services of healthcare that one is receiving. According to Health Services Research, health systems can implement strategies to encourage their members to use more primary care services without driving up physical health costs” (1). Consumers referring to their Primary Care Physician for preventative services, thereby being proactive in their healthcare, would impact utilization and decrease demand for Inpatient Services (hospital setting). There are many complementary health care services that are used in combination with conventional healthcare services (i.e.; homeopathic, holistic and other non-traditional methods of medicine). Aging patients contribute to fall induced injuries or other age related chronic illness that are complimented by rehab, physical therapies and maintenance medications (FHT, 2).

• In what ways does your product or service provide utility to your customers? Healthcare provides utility or to a person’s overall happiness or satisfaction by improving their quality of life and treating their bodies and minds (Frakt, 3).

• Name one strong utility feature and one weak utility feature of the product or service. A strong utility feature of healthcare are positive outcomes from treatment and or surgery. Physician transparency, treatment plans and continuity of care are some utility features that can improve a patient’s overall disposition (Montag, 4). A weak utility feature of healthcare would be incorrect diagnosis, medication or surgical error or death.

As described in the lecture, discuss one factor that has shifted demand OR supply of your product or service within the last year. One feature that has shifted within the last year is the demand for how the healthcare workforce is evolving from technological advances, competitive market forces, patient centered care and the wealth of healthcare data available for consumers (Miliard, 5).

According to Mandl, “consumers expect to have their data available and sharable. Other industries have embraced similar principles: in response to customer demand, for example, Facebook now enables users to download their own data. A patient-controlled health-record infrastructure allows a patient to effectively become a health information exchange of one: as data accumulate in a patient-controlled repository, a complete picture of the patient emerges. If patients can obtain their data wherever they go, they can share them with physicians as needed — rather than vice versa.”(6). Accenture lists what today’s consumers expect from healthcare (7):

• Healthcare consumers today are changing, and their expectations for convenience, affordability and quality are redefining how they engage at each stage of care.
• Younger consumers are not satisfied with healthcare’s status quo and consumers of all generations are more willing to try non-traditional services.
• Non-traditional healthcare, such as virtual care and retail walk-in clinics, is gaining in popularity and use.

Marta Retzler

References:

1. Health Services Research. 2005. Are Primary Care Services a Substitute or Complement for Specialty and Inpatient Services? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361207/

2. Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHP). 2019. What is Complementary Healthcare? https://www.fht.org.uk/what-is-complementary-healthcare

3. Austin Frakt. 2014. Microeconomics Made Simple. Pg. 1.

4. Dr. Bernd Montag. 2017. Health Management.org. 7 Ways to Improve Patient Outcomes in the New World of Value-Based Care. https://healthmanagement.org/c/hospital/whitepaper/7-ways-to-improve-patient-outcomes-in-the-new-world-of-value-based-care

5. Mike Miliard. 2019. Healthcare IT News. Healthcare workforce development: New strategies for new demands. https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/healthcare-workforce-development-new-strategies-new-demands

6. Kenneth D. Mandl, MD, MPH. 2016. New England Journal of Medicine. Time for a Patient-Driven Health Information Economy? https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1512142

7. Accenture. 2019. Today’s consumers reveal the future of healthcare. https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/health/todays-consumers-reveal-future-healthcare

peer #2

Using the product or service that you have selected for your assignments, respond to all of the below prompts:

Is it an inferior, normal, or luxury product, or service?

The service I chose is related to telecommunications, specifically the introduction of Verizon in Ethiopia. Verizon offers a range of products such as phones, smartwatches, tablets, and more. It also offers a wide spectrum of services such as wireless connections, landline connects mobile and data services. In economics, a normal product/service is considered one that A normal good means an increase in income causes an increase in demand (1). Interestingly, dependent upon the area being discussed, their products and services might be classified differently. Here is the U.S, where unemployment was reported at 3.5% in Dec 2019, it would be considered normal products or services. Whereas, in the target country of Ethiopia, where unemployment is on the rise, reported at 19.6% is 2019 (2), it would be considered a luxury product/service because the majority of the population cannot afford it.

What are its substitutes and complements, if any?

Verizon offers such a wide array of products and services, both wireline and wireless that there are many substitutes. For example, if someone were not interested in a cell phone they could get a landline phone. If someone were uninterested in wireline connections they could use satellite phones. The alternative to wireless service would be to remain off the grid and the alternative to Verizon’s TV and streaming offers would be to go with satellite providers. When it comes to smart devices and phones, Verizon also has a lot of competition from companies like AT&T, Cricket, Metro PCS and more. Compliments to Verizon’s products and services would be things like apple pay devices, streaming devices, AI simulation devices, phones, smartwatches and more.

In what ways does your product or service provide utility to your customers?

As described by Zeder, in economics the term utility refers to the perceived value received when purchasing a good or service (3). Form utility, “can be created through things such as high-quality materials, ergonomic design, or a wide selection of options to choose from” (3). Verizon’s products and services fit that description as they are constantly at the forefront of offers the latest technology and connections specific to the needs of the time e.g. smartphones, AI simulation glasses and more. Place utility speaks to making products and services easily attainable for consumers. Verizon does just that, not only offering physical stores for consumers to purchase their goods, but also providing the ability to place orders via phone, or over the internet with the push of a button. Time utility speaks to getting the goods and services quickly and in a timely fashion. With immediate in-store purchasing options or overnight product shipment, Verizon offers time utility as well. Lastly, possession utility refers to the “benefits derived from owning and using a specific product” (3). That can certainly be applied to the effect of owning one of Verizon’s products, or purchasing one of their services.

Name one strong utility feature and one weak utility feature of the product or service.

One strong utility feature of Verizon would be place utility. Verizon has over 150 retail locations, enabling consumers in every state and Puerto Rico and Guam. Their products and services and very easily accessible to consumers. One weak feature would be the form utility. In my opinion that would be the hardest utility to satisfy as everyone has different needs. For example, some consumers want larger screens for media streaming and some prefer smaller devices altogether to carry around on a daily basis. That would be the weaker of Verizon’s utilities.

As described in the lecture, discuss one factor that has shifted demand OR supply of your product or service within the last year.

One factor that has affected supply is a surplus of telecom companies. There was a time when a smartphone was considered a commodity. Present-day, there are so many companies that sell wireless, and even wireline products that the market has become saturated and there is less consumer demand.

References:

1. https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/790/economics/different-types-of-goods-inferior-normal-luxury/
2. https://tradingeconomics.com/

https://quickonomics.com/the-four-types-of-economic-utility/