outlets. The over capacity situation at the refinery level caused the oil companies to seek other buyers for the product. To attract other buyers, prices at the refinery level were lowered. This action, in turn, weakened the barriers to entry to the retail marketing of petroleum. The lowered barriers to entry allowed the supermarkets to gain an entry into the retail petroleum market. The entry of the supermarkets into the retail petroleum market altered the characteristic of interdependence in the petroleum industry, and in turn led to substantial price competition within the industry (Weston & Barrie, 1996, p. 2).
2. If customers are becoming more sensitive to price than promotion, what are the cost and revenue implications for Esso, or any of the oil companies, in maintaining profitability with such a change in the marketing approach?
While the oligopolistic characteristic of interdependence held within the petroleum industry, the firms operating in the industry were able to seek marke
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