Price, product, promotion and place (4Ps): Students should be able to…

The idea

The Boston Box, also called the Boston Matrix, sorts a firm's products using two axes: market growth rate and relative market share. High growth with high share gives a star, which usually needs investment to keep pace but can become a future cash cow. Low growth with high share gives a cash cow, a mature product generating steady cash that can fund other lines. High growth with low share gives a question mark, where the business must decide whether to invest to build share or withdraw. Low growth with low share gives a dog, often a candidate for divestment, though it may still contribute.

For example: A phone maker might treat its newest flagship as a star and an older budget model as a cash cow.

What earns the marks

• Identify the two axes of the Boston Box as market growth rate and relative market share.
• Define a star as a product in a high-growth market with high relative market share, typically requiring investment to sustain position.
• Define a cash cow as a product in a low-growth market with high relative market share, generating cash that can fund other products.
• Define a question mark as a product in a high-growth market with low relative market share, requiring a decision to invest or withdraw.
• Define a dog as a product in a low-growth market with low relative market share, often considered for divestment.
• Explain the link between categories and strategy, such as investing in stars, harvesting cash cows, building or dropping question marks, and divesting dogs.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Mixing up the axes, for example placing a cash cow in a high-growth market.

  Put it right by remembering that cash cows sit in low-growth markets with high share.

• Describing a question mark as a certain failure.

  Put it right by explaining it is uncertain and may become a star if the business invests successfully.

• Calling a dog a product with no value at all.

  Put it right by noting it may still generate some cash or support the brand, so divestment is a judgement.

Exam tips

• Learn a quick grid: high growth and high share is a star, low growth and high share is a cash cow, high growth and low share is a question mark, low growth and low share is a dog.
• When explaining a category, always state both the growth rate and the market share position to show precise understanding.
• Apply each category to a product from a named business to demonstrate identification and explanation together.