Long tail theory

The long tail is a theory of the change in the industry thanks to the birth of the internet. The red area shows the dominance of certain products, and the popularity that these held. The birth of the internet caused the range of products available to us to become so vast that the market share has decreased, and original products that dominated the market have become not-so-popular. Examples of this may be the ‘Kit Kat’, introduced in 1935 this originally dominated the market, nowadays with competition increasing and availability of products being extended, they have now introduced, kit Kat chunky, kit Kat snack bars, kit Kat ice cream. This is all to generate the same income as they did before. Since there is such a more substantial amount of products available on the market it is important for existing products top continue with this trend and to establish and puncture new markets that could potentially increase their profitable margin. If a business was to remain with a single product, there may be the danger of becoming drowned in other more popular products, this would affect the corporation and would eventually lead to the downfall of the company and products.
The orange section of the graph consists of products being implemented now and in the future, so it is a prediction of the market. These millions of existing niche products are the ‘Long Tail’. This shift from mass market to niche market could lead to the culmination of products and services that have been around for years. A recent example of a mass market product that collapsed recently was the News of The World, although there are specific reasons behind this collapse, it would have been much harder to close a mass market product if there are very few of them, however because we have a variety of newspapers, from The Sun to The Daily Mail, The Star, it ended up becoming easier to close.
Chris Anderson a Journalist who wrote a review on the Long Tail gives an explanation on why the long tail theory exists:
1. More products are being produced. Technology and the internet make it cheaper and easier to record and distribute your own songs, publish your own writings and so on. This lengthens the tail.
2. There is better access to niches, again thanks to the reach and economies on the net. This fattens the tail.
3. Search and recommendations connect supply and demand. This drives business from hits to niches.

Others argue that it is because our society have been so injected with the information that is given ( a clear example of the hypodermic injection theory) that we, as a society and individuals, no longer have an opinion, but except with such a wide range of products available, we choose the one that has been best marketed. The product or service that survives the filters are the ones that we tend to buy. Whether or not this is true could be argued, however the long tail theory could continue to extend, eventually leading to so many products being owned by a single company (the only way to make a profit) that there is no plurality with the products or services that are available on the market.

http://www.scribemedia.org/2006/11/13/the-long-tail/