1.

Product Price: An actual exchange cost at which given product is available to the customer
or an initial total price commitment the customer has to fulfil in order to legally own and use
the product. It covers basic price, taxes, delivery charges, discount, rebate, insurance charges,
legal compliance charges, etc.

2.

Product Variety: An indicator of the flexibility/ option available for a spectrum of the product
under different or the same brand. It includes design or configuration range, various styles,
price range, differences in the features, etc.

3.

Perceived Quality: The quality of the product as perceived or judged, subjectively or

objectively, by the five senses and wisdom of the customer. It is a feeling or the state of mind
customer derives from his own sense or others experience about the product considering the
parameters he/she feels important. The important considerations are performance factors,
specification fulfilment, aesthetic look, taste, smell, feelings, etc.

4.

Product Delivery: An extrinsic attribute that includes all the factors responsible for quick,
accurate and safe delivery of the product to the customer. It covers delivery time or lead time,
availability of the product (in-stock/ out-of-stock), delivery at the point of use, safety in
delivery (i.e., no damage to the product and no harm to environment), follow-up required (i.e.,
frequency and cost of phone calls, emails, visits, etc.), error rate (i.e., probability of shipping
wrong product, or incorrect quantity or omission of particular part/product from the set of
products).

5.

Production Volume: The quantity in which the product is produced at a time by the
manufacturer. Though is not directly linked with the customer (and not supposed to be known
by the customer), it may decides some other attributes, like product price. It takes in to account
various types of production, like, job production (specially designed item like ship, home,
boiler, etc.), batch production (consumer goods like soaps, toothpastes, soft-drinks, etc.),
continuous production (commodity products like sugar, petroleum, aluminium, etc.), etc.

6.

Availability: Performances attribute which considers the proportion of the total time for
which the product is available in operable state for its intended use. It underlines the property
of the product which let it to utilise to maximum extent. It takes into account the uptime and
downtime of the product.

7.

Reliability: Performances attribute which indicates the probability of failure free performance
under stated operating conditions and for a specific life. It highlights the property of the

product which helps it to perform its function, effectively and efficiently, when the user desires
so. It is indicated by failure rates, MTFF, MTBF, and Mean Time To Fail (MTTF).
8.

Maintainability: The attribute which makes maintenance/repair of the product simple, easy,
quick and cheap. It covers internal accessibility, minimum skill requirement, minimum
knowhow for maintenance, minimum number of tools required (tooling standardization),
interchangeability (i.e., use of standard parts like nuts, bolts, etc.), cost and availability of
spare parts, minimum maintenance/repair time, testability (i.e., ease with which product can
be tested for the fault; availability of in-built self-diagnostic test or external auto-test
equipment), self-repair/correction mode, replacement level (i.e., replacement of individual
part or entire module), etc. MTTR is one of the important measures of maintainability.

9.

Product Warranty and Service: Product support attributes offered by the manufacturer or
seller or their subsidiaries, facilitating the customer before buying, during buying and after
buying the product. In case of post buying-support, it may be for a specified period or lifetime
of the product, free of cost or at reasonable extra cost, or with suitable combinations of support
periods and support costs. It typically includes warranty coverage (sketchy or extensive),
warranty period (shorter or longer), warranty type (partial or complete replacement), warranty
terms and conditions (simple/few to complex/more), recall insurance (i.e., compensation in
case of product recall), service network (selective or intensive), customer information and
support system (service accessibility, 24-hour helpline, online support, complaint redressal
mechanism, etc.), pre-sales service, during-sales service, after-sales service, response time
(time taken to register and acknowledge the customers request/complaint), service lead time
(time taken to resolve the service issues), service operation locality (i.e., where is service
provided? at customers site or at service centre), proximity of service centre, pick-up/dropin service, skill level of the service-men, service correctness (i.e., resolving the service issues
correctly), behavioural pattern of the service department, provision for Annual Maintenance
Contract (AMC)/ extended warranty, provision of free servicing/maintenance, stand-by
provision (i.e., providing another product to the customer while customers product is under
service/ maintenance), service ambience (pleasing environment at service facility), cost of
service, respect of warranty offerings, etc.

10. Packaging: Attributes related to packaging facilitating the customer for handling and storage
of the product and providing the necessary information. The important considerations are

protection (against shocks and damage), ease in transportation and handling, shape, size and
weight of the packaging/container (compactness and handiness), use of standardized
containers, relevant product and handling information on the package, colour and graphics,
reusability and durability, ease of use (i.e., easy removal/ placement of the product from/inside
the container), tamper-proof features, feel and appearance of the packaging material,
environment friendliness (i.e., recyclable, non-toxic, etc.).
11. Economic Life: Useful life of the product (at reasonable operating cost) at the end of which
the product needs to be discarded. It often defines the product durability and may or may not
correspond to the designed life of the product. The use beyond economic life costs more to
the user and also to the society (in terms of environmental hazards or accidents). The economic
life may be decided by appropriate government authority for few products. It can be assessed
through average operating and maintenance cost per unit time period.
12. Life Cycle Cost: Total costs (to the customer) incurred in all the activities from pre-purchase
activities to the final disposal of the product at the end of its life. Though the product price is
an integral part of the life cycle cost, it may be excluded here as it is being considered
separately. Hard to estimate, customer may estimate it by collecting the relevant information
from the known sources or by using his experience and wisdom. It covers acquisition costs
(i.e., cost of identifying the product, cost of buying, receiving and installation of the product),
operating costs (i.e., cost of running/using the product (on day-to-day basis), cost of
maintenance/repair, cost of early use, cost of matured use, cost of up-gradation/modification)
and disposal costs (i.e., cost of retirement- exchange, return, scrapping, etc.).
13. Safety: Attributes responsible for safety of humans, surrounding and the product itself, at all
the life stages of the product, during its operation or storage. It also includes necessary legal
compliances for safety. It considers operational safety (e.g., brake, pressure relief valve, etc.),
maintenance safety (e.g., automatic power cut-off), transportation safety (e.g., leak proofing),
packaging safety, safety during non-utilization, etc.
14. Promotional Scheme: Product specific promotional scheme important and beneficial from
customers point of view. It includes pre-sales demo, product exhibition, discount schemes,
extra offerings, credit facilities, etc.
15. Environmental Friendliness: Product attributes which make it environment-friendly and
ensure legal compliance with the environmental issues and appropriate surrounding interface.

It considers emission, noise, radiation, toxicity, and ground or wall clearance for cleaning or
operational purpose.
16. User Friendliness: Attributes which make products use simple and economical. It is
achieved through operational simplicity (i.e., effective man machine interface and minimum
points of control), user manual/CD (i.e., simple user manual or animated/multimedia CD or
functionalities mentioned/ symbolised on the product near appropriate controls so as to
eliminate/ minimise the need of user manual), product design enabling basic functions only
(no additional functions- hence no complications!), minimum utility/power requirement,
minimal operational knowhow requirement, fool proofing features, minimum warm-up
period, minimum or zero up-keeping requirement, compactness, weight, portability, etc.
17. Product Functionality and Features: The functions and features of the product which adds
the value to the product and makes use of product simpler and cheaper. A product may be
made for basic function only (like basic mobile phone) or may have number of additional
functions (like business mobile phone) at marginally extra price. First case will provide
simplicity while second case will provide more utility for the price paid (i.e., value addition).
Product may have competitive features (-to differentiate from competitors product, e.g.,
QWERTY keyboard), economic features (-to make use cheaper, e.g., auto power-off) or
social/religious features (-coherent with the social/religious values, e.g., soap with sandal
fragrance). It can be assessed by observing the functional hierarchy of the product, viz.
primary functions, secondary functions, tertiary functions, etc.
18. Product Style: Stylish features to attract particular class of the customers. It includes
trendiness (current taste of the customer), attractive exterior and interior design, overall beauty
(colour, shape and size) of the product, etc.
19. Product Accessories: The operational and functional accessories and also their costs and
availability. Operational accessories are required for the successful operation of the product
(e.g., laptop charger). Functional accessories either simplify the function (e.g., mouse with
laptop) or provide additional functions (e.g., different sized pots with mixer), thereby adding
value to the product. Most of the customers like minimum operational and maximum
functional accessories. However, few customers prefer products with essential accessories
only. Even though accessories are provided free with the product, it may increase initial and
operating costs of the product.

20. Independent Usability: Property of the product which makes its operationally or functionally
independent of some other equipment/device. Many products depend on other
equipment/device for its intended use, e.g., pneumatic tool requires compressed air, speaker
needs sound input device (operational dependency); computer needs software, revolver needs
bullet (functional dependency). In some cases, lock-in strategy or tying may be viewed as
inhibitor of independent usability. Though, in majority of cases, the dependency is
unavoidable, customers prefer the products with minimum dependency.
21. Value Perception: The value associated with the product or as perceived by the customer.
The product may have esteem value (pride feeling, e.g., Mercedes car) or use value (maximum
utility at minimum price, e.g., Nano car) or exchange value (good resale value, i.e., Maruti
car). Value perception is highly subjective and plays vital role in buying behaviour of the
customers. Customers often see the trade-off between different values. The value is based on
product price, utility, functions, brand name, psychological feelings associated with the
product, etc.
22. Brand Name: The level of reputation earned by the product due its performance and or
manufacturers goodwill. Brand usually means the name of company or name of the product,
e.g., Raymond (companys name) is good brand in textile, Pulsar (products name) is good
brand in two wheeler, Dell (companys name) is good brand in laptop, iPhone (products
name) is good brand in smartphone. Brand impact is usually assessed by brand equity. All the
products of the same manufacturer may not have the same brand equity, e.g., Samsung has
good brand equity for TV and not equally good for laptops. Customers often check the positive
or negative brand equity and the esteem (pride feeling) associated with the brand. Important
assessment criteria are brand equity, psychological feelings associated with the brand, etc.
23. Customer Relationship: The various schemes to develop better relations with the customers
and involve them in business improvement. It helps to win the trust of customer and keeping
them positive about the product or company. The tactic for customer relationship may include
seasonal greetings, satisfaction/feedback survey, other offers, etc.