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11/23/11 Home

Marginalizing

To marginalize a product or service is to overvalue it. For example, a marginalized car is a car that has less than a year's life left in it, the tires are worn just enough to look good but actually have a year left on them, the engine burns a little oil and some engine work in the near future will have to be done. The car looks great but soon things will start to break and wear out. Marginalizing is that optimal point at which a car starts to wear out and its sale value to the owner (not the buyer) is greatest because its looks are better than it really is. One really does not want to buy a car with a year's life because of the high expense of repair. Used car dealers have a very keen knowing of the value of a car. They know the type of car that will cause problems down the line and ones that have a lot of trouble free life left on them. There is marginalizing going on everywhere in most every business. It would be difficult to say that marginalizing is unethical unless taken to its extreme form.