is a middle ground competitive approach aimed squarely at the sometimes great mass of value-conscious buyers looking for a good-to-very-good product or service at an economical price.

most buyers use the product in the same ways, the products of rival sellers are essentially identical and readily available from many eager sellers, and price competition among rival sellers is vigorous.

a company's product can command a sufficiently higher price to more than cover the added costs of achieving the differentiation