Problem:
When Pillsbury introduced its Oven Lovin' cookie dough in a resealable tub, it looked like a guaranteed success. Early focus groups raved about Oven Lovin' dough. Within months of its introduction, the dough was available in 90 percent of the supermarkets in U.S. Pillsbury conducted five extensive promotions featuring the product and issued some two million coupons. Within two years of introduction of Oven Lovin' cookie dough, the product was off the market. The tub of dough was priced 20 cents more than Pillsbury's traditional tube of dough and contained 10 percent less dough. Consumers didn't see the tub of cookie dough as significantly different from the tube even though was loaded with Hershey's chocolate chips, Reese's Pieces, and Brach's candies. How would a better understanding of consumer behavior have possibly helped prevent Pillsbury from making this expensive mistake?
Kotler, P. (2003). Marketing Management, 11/E. Prentice Hall. Chapters 6-7, Pages 158-214.(MBA)