Note: The video has Closed Captioning. To activate it, start the video, mouse o

Note: The video has Closed Captioning. To activate it, start the video, mouse over the bottom of the video and click on the CC icon, then select from the menu.
This week, we shall look at Monopolistic Competition. This is where you, as a consumer, spend most of your time. In Monopolistic Competition, many companies are selling similar but not identical products. Put differently, the goods are close but not perfect substitutes.
Because of the relative ease of substitution, companies often compete by advertising, services (for stores), brand names, brand loyalty, and product differentiation more than by price. Thus, prices of competing products tend to be close but not identical as they are in Perfect Competition.
Since this market is where you – as a consumer – spend most of your time and a lot of your money, this week, you will look at this market in action in your daily life. When you go shopping this week, please pay close attention to product prices and what information they tell you about how the products compete.
A grocery store is a good example. Look at the soda aisle and view the prices and the product locations on the shelves, which products are close substitutes, sufficiently differentiated that they have brand loyalty (i.e., a higher price), etc. Do the same with canned vegetables. Or undertake the same observational experiment in another store you regularly frequent.
Assignment Summary:
Watch the video above, and under the Week 4 Videos, watch all videos.
Then go to a store, as discussed above, and observe. Observation is a well-established method of real-world research. It will probably be easier and perhaps more informative if you pick on one product line to observe and observe by brand name. In particular, look for: product prices,
product packaging (design, colors, logos, etc.); and,
product shelve placement relative to other similar products.
Based on what you observe can you identify the following: Which products/brand names compete most closely with each other? Are they placed close to each other on the shelves or far apart?
Which products/brand names are aimed at cost-conscious consumers? Where are these on the store shelves for grocery stores?
Which are aimed at higher-end consumers? Where are these on the store shelves for grocery stores?
Which products/brand names have a narrower market and command brand loyalty? This one could be tricky to figure out.
Share what you find with the class on the discussion board. What do you think you have learned from this activity?
What have you learned about monopolistic competition?
Post your views to the discussion board and refer to at least two different “key concepts” from this week’s Chapters. Your illustration of concepts MUST include an explanation of why you think they are relevant to the week’s topic using specific information from the articles, videos, and other research you may have done, and their names and definitions must be typed with CAPITAL LETTERS to facilitate credit.
You are required to post your main post and respond to your instructor and at least one peer to make a minimum of three posts totaling at least 500 words. Failure to meet these minimum posting requirements results in point deductions.
Include a word count on each post. All of your posts should sum to a minimum of 500 words. Each post submitted should be between 150 and 250 words.
Please review Plagiarism Powerpoints ( PLAGIARISM.ppt PLAGIARISM.ppt – Alternative Formats ) and provide references (APA.ppt), including URLs where appropriate, to all works you cite.

Rubric for Microeconomics discussion. Professor Lopez.
Levels of Achievement
Criteria
Poor work
Partial work
Good work
Minimum participation requirement
(50 points)
No work submitted or just one post and/or no more than 167 words. Work is submitted late.
(10 points)
Two posts submitted and/or less than 500 words total. Three posts may be submitted but very late during the week (last day and late).
(30 points)
At least three posts and 500 words are submitted during three different days
(50 points)
Main questions of assignment
(20 points)
Opinion submitted but the main question(s) of assignment is (are) not addressed.
(4 points)
Opinion submitted, and main question is partially addressed
(12 points)
Opinion submitted, and questions of assignment are properly addressed
(20 points)
Response to instructor
(10 points)
No response to instructor comments/questions
(0 points)
Partial responses to questions from the instructor, or further and necessary clarifications are not provided.
(5 points)
Proper responses to questions from the instructor
(10 points)
Key-concept illustration
(20 points)
No key concepts are named, defined, and explained how they may relate to the article/topic.
(0 points)
Only one key concept identified or partial illustration of at least two key concepts.
(10 points)
Two key concepts are properly named and defined, and then explained how they may relate to assignment.
(20 points)
Now click the “Week 4 DISCUSSION” title above to go to the discussion forum. You are required to start a new thread. Click on the Create Thread button at the top. You can also respond to an existing post by clicking the Respond button at the bottom of the post.
This assignment closes at the end of the week. No exceptions.