Editing Commodity (section)

== Commoditization ==
{{main|Commoditization}}
Commoditization occurs as a goods or services market loses differentiation across its supply base, often by the diffusion of the [[intellectual capital]] necessary to acquire or produce it efficiently. As such, goods that formerly carried premium [[Profit margin|margins]] for [[Market (economics)|market]] [[wikt:participation|participants]] have become commodities, such as [[Generic drug|generic pharmaceuticals]] and [[dynamic random-access memory|DRAM chips]]. An article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' cites [[multivitamin]] supplements as an example of commoditization; a 50&nbsp;mg tablet of [[calcium]] is of equal value to a consumer no matter what company produces and markets it, and as such, multivitamins are now sold in bulk and are available at any supermarket with little brand differentiation.<ref name="Times">{{Cite news |author=Natasha Singer |author2=Peter Lattman |title=Workout Supplement Challenged |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/business/a-soldiers-parents-take-aim-at-gnc-and-a-supplement-maker.html?hpw&pagewanted=all |work=The New York Times |date=15 March 2013 |access-date=17 March 2013}}</ref> Following this trend, [[nanomaterials]] are emerging from carrying premium profit margins for market participants to a status of commodification.<ref>C. McGovern, "Commoditization of nanomaterials". ''Nanotechnology Perceptions'' '''6''' (2010) 155–178.</ref>

There is a spectrum of commoditization, rather than a binary distinction of "commodity versus differentiable product". Few products have complete undifferentiability and hence fungibility; even electricity can be differentiated in the market based on its method of generation (e.g., fossil fuel, wind, solar), in markets where [[electricity market#Retail electricity market|energy choice]] lets a buyer opt (and pay more) for renewable methods if desired. Many products' degree of commoditization depends on the buyer's mentality and means. For example, milk, eggs, and notebook paper are not differentiated by many customers; for them, the product is fungible and lowest price is the main decisive factor in the purchasing choice. Other customers take into consideration other factors besides price, such as environmental sustainability and animal welfare. To these customers, distinctions such as "[[Organic food|organic]] versus not" or "[[Free-range eggs|cage free]] versus not" count toward differentiating brands of milk or eggs, and percentage of recycled content or [[Forest Stewardship Council]] [[Certified wood|certification]] count toward differentiating brands of notebook paper.