消費者の購買履歴の変動が企業の製品差別化戦略に与える影響について関連文献を幅広くサーベイした。消費者の購買履歴が次の製品選択に及ぼす影響に関しては、消費者が今までの購買で満足を得ているか否かに依存し、過去に満足を得た消費者は次回にも同一製品を購入しようとするが、満足していない消費者は異なる製品に変えようとする。しかし、時間の経過とともに製品が差別化されると、過去の購買履歴が判断材料として機能しない場合もある。そこで、企業は競争の中、相手企業から既存顧客を奪い取るために、製品差別化という戦略を利用する。そうすると、大きな満足感を得ていない消費者は過去の購買履歴と異なる製品を試してみたい誘因を持つが、製品差別化の速度が遅いと製品をスイッチすることを躊躇してしまう。従って、消費者の満足度が低い市場、または自己の理想と思う属性と実製品の属性との差異が大きい市場には、製品差別化が頻繁に起きると考えられることがレビューから分かった。
しかし、消費者が過去の製品に満足をする場合においても、過去の購買履歴と同じではない製品にスイッチしようとする動機が存在する。新しいもの、異なるものを試したい欲求、すなわち、バラエティを求める消費者（variety-seeking consumer）がそれに該当する。バラエティを求める消費者は、惰性的な消費者に比べて自身の購買履歴とは異なる製品を購入しようとする傾向が強い。このような現象を差別化戦略に結び付けて、企業が差別化を頻繁に行う戦略はライバル企業から消費者を奪い取る競争の目的だけではなく、バラエティを求める消費者の購買意欲と頻度を高めて市場全体の需要を大きくする効果を生み出すことについて引き続き分析していきたい。つまり、消費者の購買履歴を単に追跡することではなく、バラエティを求める消費者であるのか、反対に惰性的な消費者であるのかを判別し、その分析に基づいて、製品差別化の程度や新製品を発売するタイミング等を調整する戦略を実施すれば企業の利潤を改善することが期待される。
I surveyed a wide range of relevant literature on the impact of changes in consumer purchasing history on a company's product differentiation strategy. The impact of a consumer's purchase history on the next product choice depends on whether the consumer has been satisfied with the purchase. The consumer who has been satisfied with the past purchase will continue to use the same product next time, while consumers who has not been satisfied much will try to switch to a different product. However, if the product is differentiated over time, past purchase history may not work as a basis for judgment. So, in competition, companies use a strategy of product differentiation to poach existing customers from other companies. Consumers who are not very satisfied then have the incentive to try a product that is different from their past purchase history. However, they may hesitate to switch products if the product is differentiation slowly. Therefore, I found from the former reviews that product differentiation is likely to occur frequently in markets where the level of consumer satisfaction is low, or where there is a large difference between his or her ideal attributes and the actual attributes of the product.
On the one hand, even when consumers are satisfied with past products, there exists any different incentive to switch to products which are not the same one as past purchase history. Consumers who like to try something new or different are called as variety-seeking consumers. Variety-seeking consumers are more likely than inertial consumers to purchase products that are different from those of their purchase history. By linking this phenomenon to a differentiation strategy, frequent differentiation is not only to poach consumers from the rival firms, but also to increase the purchasing motivation and frequency of variety-seeking consumers in the market which leads to increasing of overall demand. Rather than simple tracking of the purchase history of consumers, it is important to determine whether the consumer is variety-seeking or, on the contrary, inertial. Based on the above, I will continue to analyze what is the best to determine the degree of product differentiation and the timing of launching new products. The profits of companies are expected to be improved if they implement the strategies properly.