Louis is a student at Texas A&M who just secured a summer internship working for the marketing department of Southwest Airlines. He is assisting Marlene, one of the marketing managers, with a competitive assessment of the U.S. market. Marlene wants him to think outside of the box when assessing the competition. She tells him to think beyond direct competitors to any competitors that might be able to offer similar services as Southwest.Which of the following represents a generic competitor to Southwest Airlines?a. Schwinn bicycle b. Greyhound bus system c. Delta Airlines d. Blue Star Jets (on-demand private charter)

Greyhound Bus System is considered to be the generic competitor for Southwest Airline. Generic competitors are the ones who have different products or provide different services but the purpose of the product or service remains the same.

So the Greyhound Bus System and Southwest Airline both provide different services, as Greyhound bus system allows travelling through bus while Southwest Airlines allow travelling through aircraft, but the purpose of both the companies remain same, which is to travel or to transport people from one place to another. So these both companies will be the generic competitor of each other.

Ritushar Ritushar · Answer 2 · 2019-09-17T12:34:10+02:00

The option (b) is correct. The generic competitor of Southwest Airlines is Greyhound bus system.

Further Explanation:

Generic competition:

Generic competition is a type of competition in the market where different producers manufacture different products but provide the same benefit. In generic competition, the companies do not face competition directly from the peer companies. They face competition from the companies that produce different product but offers the same solution. In generic competition, the products are different, but they provide the same solution.

Example: The generic competition for audio cassettes company is a CD company. The products are different, but they provide the same solution (video and audio streaming).

In the current case, Marlene asked Louis to research about the generic competitor of Southwest Airlines. The generic competitor of Southwest Airlines is Greyhound bus system. Southwest Airlines provides transportation services by airplanes, and the Greyhound bus system provides transportation services by buses. Both of them uses different products (bus and airplanes) to provide the same service (transportation).

Justification for the correct and incorrect option:

a.

Schwinn bicycle: This is an incorrect option.

Schwinn bicycle produces bicycle and sells bicycles. Bicycles can be used for transportation within a city or a small area. Unlike airplanes, bicycles can not be used for transportation to different cities, countries, and continents.

b.

Greyhound bus system: This is the correct option.

Greyhound bus system provides transportation services like Southwest Airlines. They use different product (bus) for different solution (transportation).

c.

Delta Airlines: This is an incorrect option.

Delta Airlines is not a generic competition of Southwest Airlines because both of them provide the services using the same product (airplanes)

d.

Blue Star Jets: This is an incorrect option.

Blue Star Jets can not be considered as public transport as normal citizen do not prefer charter plans for transportation.

Learn more:

1. Learn more about the demand and supply of the product

https://brainly.com/question/11045011

2. Learn more about the competitive market

https://brainly.com/question/11095403

3. Learn more about the market intermediary

https://brainly.com/question/9727245

Answer details:

Grade: Senior School

Subject: Economics

Chapter: International Trade

Keywords: Louis, Texas A&M, internship, marketing department, Southwest Airlines, assisting, Marlene, marketing managers, competitive, assessment, U.S. market, direct competitors, similar services, generic competitor Southwest Airlines, Schwinn bicycle, Greyhound bus system, Delta Airlines, Blue Star Jets, (on-demand private charter).