demarket
Low; primarily used in specialist business, marketing, and political contexts.Formal, professional, technical.
Definition
Meaning
To deliberately reduce the appeal or availability of a product, often as a strategic move to phase it out, reposition it, or manage demand.
Can refer to the act of withdrawing marketing support, removing a product from certain markets, or discouraging consumption of a product deemed harmful or politically sensitive.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Implies a deliberate, strategic action, often contrary to typical marketing goals. Not to be confused with 'boycott' (consumer-led) or 'discontinue' (may be for non-strategic reasons).
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Usage is virtually identical in both varieties due to its technical nature.
Connotations
Carries a strategic, sometimes negative, managerial connotation. In political contexts (e.g., demarketing cigarettes), it can have a public health or ethical dimension.
Frequency
Slightly more frequent in American business journalism, but remains rare overall.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[Company] demarketed [Product][Government] is demarketing [Harmful Product] to reduce consumption.Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “To put a product on the back burner (informal, related concept).”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
The company decided to demarket its older software to drive users towards the new subscription model.
Academic
The paper examines demarketing strategies used by governments to curb demand for single-use plastics.
Everyday
Rarely used in everyday conversation.
Technical
A comprehensive demarketing plan may involve price increases, distribution reduction, and neutral advertising.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The manufacturer will demarket the petrol model ahead of the electric vehicle launch.
- They demarketed the service in Europe due to regulatory pressures.
American English
- The city is demarketing downtown parking to encourage public transit use.
- After the scandal, the brand was effectively demarketed by its own parent company.
adverb
British English
- The product was handled demarketingly during the transition.
American English
- They proceeded demarketingly, pulling all TV ads.
adjective
British English
- The demarketing phase lasted six months.
- A demarket strategy was reluctantly adopted.
American English
- The demarketing campaign focused on health risks.
- They reviewed demarket proposals for the legacy product line.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- The shop is not selling the old toys anymore. (Concept: stopping sales)
- The company stopped advertising the old phone when the new one came out.
- For environmental reasons, the government is trying to demarket single-use plastic bottles.
- The controversial decision to demarket the profitable but ethically questionable product line was debated at the board level.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: DE-MARKET. 'DE' means 'remove' or 'reverse', so it's the opposite of marketing.
Conceptual Metaphor
MARKETING IS A JOURNEY FORWARD; DEMARKETING IS PUTTING THE BRAKES ON OR REVERSING.
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Не переводить как "демаркетинг" (это калька, а не устоявшийся термин). Лучше: "сворачивать продвижение", "выводить с рынка стратегически".
- Не путать с "бойкотировать" (boycott).
Common Mistakes
- Using it to mean 'a market that is no longer active' (that's a 'declining market').
- Confusing it with 'remarket' (to market again).
Practice
Quiz
What is the primary purpose of demarketing?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No. A recall is for safety or defect issues and involves taking back products. Demarketing is a communications and strategy effort to reduce demand, but the product may still be legally sold.
Yes, in contexts like public health (demarketing cigarettes or sugary drinks) or sustainability (demarketing petrol cars), it can have a socially beneficial goal.
No, it is a low-frequency, specialist term mostly found in business, marketing, and public policy texts.
Demarketing (e.g., 'a demarketing campaign').