CANNIBALISM AMONGST PRODUCTS: A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY IN THE BRAZILIAN FOOD INDUSTRY

ABSTRACT The great number of new products launched by companies in order to be competitive can lead to cannibalism. This paper aims at presenting the results of a research related to the consequences and to the practices of cannibalism within eleven Brazilian food industry. The research illustrate the following results: customers and competition are factors that stimulate the occurrence of cannibalism; brands and new products policies contribute to occurrence of cannibalism; and the marketing mix components can be used to handle the cannibalism.