A credit card cycle analysis is presented in twenty four pages that considers different developmental theories such as introduction, growth, shake-out and decline with emphasis upon the early influence of Diners Club and the now dominant Visa but offers other examples of strategy and life cycle development to convey the paper's message. There are eleven bibliographic sources listed.
Name of Research Paper File: TS14_TEccard1.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
card has increased in recent years, changing being convenient way to make purchases, it has become a tool of a consumer, used to gain purchase protection, periods of interest free
debt and to gain additional benefits such as loyalty points or air miles. As the consumer have become more complex and the environment has changed so have the offerings of
the credit cards. This is only to be expected with any product, as a part of the development and renewal that is evidenced in the product lifecycle. The goods bought
with the cards are often considered in terms of their lifecycle, with consideration given to the stage they have reached and the patterns they follow, yet little consideration is given
to the method used to pay for the goods; the credit card. Yet these cards are themselves a consumer product, issued by n variety of suppliers, marketed and sold as
with any other product, possibly with an extra requirement of more important factors determining any target marketing that takes place. In looking at credit cards in this way, considering the
life cycles and the marketing and development implications of each stage the consumer product may be perceived in a new light. In
looking at the lifecycle of a product there are four main stages, Development and introduction; Growth; Maturity and Decline. Other models place an additional stage in, that of shake out,
between growth and maturity. Each different stage has divergent characteristics, requiring different marketing techniques and commercial consideration at each stage. In this paper the different stages will be considered individually.
The paper will look at the generic theory and then apply the model the development and proliferation of credit cards. II. Background The development of credit cards may be