Business English Advanced 1

Listening 1: The Product Life Cycle Part 1

w.2BusEA1 Listening 1
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Pre-listening Task

You are going to listen to a presentation on the introduction phase of the Product Life Cycle.

 What are the other phases in the cycle? Label the chart below. (1-4)
 What does the y-axis represent? (5) What does the x-axis represent? (6)

5. …………..

6. …………..

1. Introduction 2. ………….. 3. ………….. 4. …………..

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w.2BusEA1 Listening 1
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Video

Note-taking skills

Complete the notes below:

 Product Life Cycle Model is an equipping tool designed to…………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………….................................................

......................................................................................................................................................

 Product Life Cycle phases:

………………………. ………………………. ………………………. ……………………….

 2 aspects of business reflected in the 4 stages: ………………………. ……………………….

 Introduction phase:

Marketing

goal: ……………………………………………………………………………………….....................

competition: ……………………………………………………………………………………………

profitability: ………….……………………………………………………………………………………

Costs

sunk costs: ……………………………………………………………………………………………….

examples: 1. research and development costs

2. ………………………………………………………...

3. ………………………………………………………...

Pricing strategies

1. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2. ………………….……………………………………………………………………………………...

Target market

early adopter: …………………………………………………………………………………………....

potential value to company: ……………………………………………………………………………

Distribution

channels: ………………………………………………………………………………………………
w.2BusEA1 Listening 1
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Additional Exercise

Listen to the presentation. Answer the questions below.

1. What is the product life cycle model?

2. Why does the presenter refer to the model as theoretical?

3. What does the model help businesses do?

4. What two aspects of a business are reflected in the four stages?

5. What do businesses change as the product goes through the stages?

6. What is the main focus during the introduction phase?

7. What are sunk costs?

8. What are the two different pricing strategies during the introduction phase?

9. What are “early adopters”?

10. Why are “early adopters” so valuable?

Additional exercise

Listen to the presentation. Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)? Correct those that are
false.

1. The presenter begins by telling the audience that he is going to cover a great deal of material.

2. All products go through every phase of this cycle.

3. The product cycle model is an instrument which businesses use to monitor their products.

4. The product cycle focuses on revenue but not on profitability.

5. The main concern in the first phase of a new product’s life is gaining awareness about the

competition.

6. During the introduction phase, profitability is quite low due to sunk costs, which are costs related

to product development.

7. In this initial phase, the product is relatively inexpensive to produce.

8. Price skimming is a strategy used to sell the product to the most price-sensitive consumers first.

9. The goal of penetration pricing is to gain as wide a customer base as possible.

10. Early adopters expect the product to be free from any kind of glitches or bugs.