1) What is the core, actual, and augmented level of product of Disney Plus? Do the levels overlap, or they stand independently?

2. The Covid-19 pandemic in early March has resulted in shortages of toilet paper, rice, flour, pasta and many other household items, and it took some time before supermarket shelves returned to normal. Explain why there were shortages of these products using demand and supply. taking one or more products to explain the scenario? explain in 500 words.

1. On the basis of the Three Levels of Product theory formulated by Philp Kotler, core level of product basically constitutes the main or central benefits, utilities and problem-solving facilities that the consumers or buyers would obtain from purchasing any particular product or service in the respective markets. Therefore, the core level of product essentially pertains to the creation and enhancement of customer or consumer value in any market by emphasizing on the core comptencies of the concerned product or service which implies that how much utility and convenience that product or service can generate for the consumers in terms of its economic or commercial value, regular or normal usage, problem-solving capabilities to provide and augment customer satisfaction, post-consumption utilities to the consumers or buyers purchasing any particular product or service, and so on. Now, Disney Plus is a commercial online streaming service which features or broadcasts various TV shows, web-series, and movies on internet which can be accessed on any electronic device such as mobilephones, laptops, desktop PCs, tablets, gaming consoles, smart TVs, etc. Hence, the multi-device accessibility of the streaming content featured by Disney Plus provides convenient content access for a wide range of viewers or consumers belonging to various economic backgrounds. The core product of the company basically focuses on all economic segments of its targeted customer group as the streaming content is even available on mobilephones which are presently accessed by people from all economic backgrounds and class. Thus, the company generates a major fundamental consumer value in the market for commercial online streaming by providing a comprehensive accessibility to its services. Furthermore, the company provides unlimited completely commercial free access to thousands of Disney movies, TV shows, web-series, and movies and other contents produced by National Geographic, Pixar, Marvels, 20th Century Fix, etc. from any electronic device with a stable internet service along with unlimited download option as well for only a monthly subscription fee of $6.99 or an yearly subscription fee of $69.99. Hence, for a animal monthly or yearly charge, the subscribers are able to access their favorite shows, movies, and/or web-series produced by Walt Disney Productions and all its associates or affiliates from anywhere in the world on any electronic device at any time. This also signifies the economic or commercial value for the subscribers or viewers that Disnely Plus services can generate which also constitutes a major component of the core level product. In this context, the company services are also tailored or designed in accordance with the personal streaming preferences and priorities of the viewers or subscribers. For example, anyone interested in Disney cartoon shows can watch all his or her favorite cartoon shows produced by any of the affiliates of Wal Disney Company and someone else interested in superhero movies can access all his or her favorite superhero and action/adventure movies from two different devices at any time and much more all under a single subscription. Additionally, someone can also access his or her favorite Disney web-series at the same time considering that he or she particularly prefers to watch those. Therefore, it provides streaming choices or options to the consumers or subscribers according to their personal preferences and priorities. It essentially implies that the company also emphasizes on ensuring and enhancing customer satisfaction by widely catering to the respective needs and demands of the consumers or buyers.

The actual level of product basically signifies the actual physical or tangible product that constitutes the core competency of any business organization or company which the consumers or buyers would purchase in order to obtain the desired benefits and needs and fulfill their product expectations. In this context, the actual product or rather service offered by Disney Plus is the on-demand and completely commercial free commercial online streaming services exclusively created by the Walt Disney Company. Thus, the main or actual product or service of the company comes under the commercial brand name of Walt Diney Company and the official name of the streaming services also highlights the brand name which can generate a sustainable and reliable consumer trust. The actual streaming services offered by the company predominantly focuses only on broadcasting or featuring the content that are exclusively produced by the Wakt Disney Company and its commercial associates which essentially makes it distinct from its main competitors such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon in the market and further makes it more recognizable and identifiable to its target consumers or buyers who primarily prefer to watch Disney contents as their favorites. The other attractive service features such as flexible and affordable subscription plans with comprehensive 24/7 globally accessible streaming content also make it more appealing to the concerned consumers or buyers. Additionally, the absolutely commercial free streaming of any content is also another distinct feature or utility of the actual service provided by the company which can also enhance consumer convenience.

The augmented level of product as part of the Three Level Product theory mainly constitutes the additional or extra added features or facilities that the consumers or buyers would obtain upon purchasing any product or service aside from the actual features or characteristics of the product. In this regard, one of the major advantages provided by the Disney Plus streaming services is that it can be streamed up to a maximum of four different electronic devices at one specific time and a maximum of seven different individual profiles can be added under one single subscription which is an immense consumer facility considering the device and subscription asseciisbility issues and problems people face on other commercial streaming platforms. The service also additionally provides unlimited accessibility to the TV channels affiliated to Walt Disney Company implying that the viewers or subscribers can also watch Disney TV Channels live under a single subscription which can save them the separate subscription fee to get those channels as part of their cable subscription. Furthermore, Disney Plus streaming technology also supports 4K resolution HDR streaming which provides a high quality visual and audio experience for all of its contents. It also has an added feature of home theatre facility for the customers or viewers who prefer to enjoy a complete theatrical viewing experience of their favorite contents in their homes.

Therefore, much of the core and actual level of product for the Disney Plus streaming service have some overlapping or common features or characteristics. In this respect, the economically or commercially reasonable completely commercial free streaming facility provided by the streaming service constitute a core value of the actual service provided by the company which can significantly enhance and improve consumer value and viewing experience. This can essentially fulfill some of the major needs and expectations of the consumers or subscribers in this instance which is imperative to generate and maximize the core consumer value in the market. Furthermore, the flexible and comprehensive accessibility of the streaming contents under one subscription plan also constitute another major core competency of the actual service which is intended to contribute to the enhancement of customer value and positive user experience and hence, reflect the components of both the core and actual level of product, in this case. The simplicity of the basic subscription plans to the actual service can also be an influential factor in generating customer convinience and value in the market. However, based on the discussion, the augmented level of the product in this context mainly highlights the additional features, advantages, and facilities which are not part of the core or central values and comptencies of the actual service provided by the company such as the device and subscription accessibility, the extra technical features and attractions of the service, complete accessibility to the Disney live TV channels, etc. Nonetheless, these additional or augmented service features and facilities can also immensely contribute to the creation and enhancement of the positive customer value and experience through extraneous service features.

2.

Explanation: During the outbreak of COVID-19 and countries imposing national lockdown, people started panicking and hoarding household items as much as possible in order to prevent their shortage at home and prevent themselves from going out to fetch them

As a result, people started hoarding toiletries like toilet paper. With unchanged supply, and drastic increase in demand for toilet paper, there was a huge shortage of toilet paper in the countries, with the product's price shooting up massively.

However, in the long run, when countries eased lockdown restrictions and demand returned down due to high price and many suppliers entering the market in order to benefit from high sales, the supply curve shifted to the right, thereby bringing down price of toilet paper to original level, eventually in the long run.