Can anybodybody give me a quick summary of what Lancaster's theory of characteristics is?

I'm doing the following assignment:





"Most supermarkets in the UK are promoting the policy of enticing the consumer to use wider range of products. The overall success of this strategy depends strongly on individual's assessment of product's characteristics." Using Lancaster's characteristics theory, discuss this issue."





I've researched Lancaster but all I get is equations and graphs of indifference curves. It doesn't give me a concise answer of what the theory is about. Onbviously it refers to consumer demand... but in what way?

Can anybodybody give me a quick summary of what Lancaster's theory of characteristics is?
Lancaster's theory of characteristics states that the usefulness of goods for the consumer depends on their properties or characteristics. Goods can be can be arranged into groups based on the characteristics they contain. Consumers buy goods within groups based on the number of characteristics they possess per dollar.


The groups are defined in such a way that consumers buy only one item in a group.





The problem is that the group definition are different depending on the consumer. A family with one car would lump all cars in a group. A family with two cars, would maybe make a difference between small cars and bigger ones.
Reply:are you in greenwich uni???cos i have the same coursework to do in micro..... Report Abuse