Bulk reefer market economics in a product life cycle perspective

Helen Thanopoulou

Maritime Policy & Management, 2012, vol. 39, issue 3, 281-296

Abstract: The paper analyses the market form of the bulk reefer segment and the industry's dynamics in a product life cycle perspective in view of the erosion of the former's market share from container shipping. The author discusses how reefer services’ advertising and product differentiation classify this specialized bulk shipping market in monopolistic competition. The analysis draws from empirical evidence of advertising from the maritime press of the last decades, market developments and observed company strategies, while the overall classification of bulk reefers in this market form is based on Chamberlin's discussion of the traits that set this market structure apart. Reefer ship type and service developments are discussed next from a product-life cycle perspective pointing that the bulk sector of refrigerated transport has reached the declining end of its product life cycle curve. On that basis, a SWOT review points to few and bleak prospects for bulk reefer operators, which lay essentially outside the carriage of perishable produce in bulk; this, the analysis concludes, is in contrast to opportunities for further research for which this market segment provides ample opportunities.

Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1080/03088839.2011.625992

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