Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between price and value in the market system?

A value proposition refers to the value a company promises to deliver to customers should they choose to buy their product. A value proposition is part of a company's overall marketing strategy. The value proposition provides a declaration of intent or a statement that introduces a company's brand to consumers by telling them what the company stands for, how it operates, and why it deserves their business.

A value proposition can be presented as a business or marketing statement that a company uses to summarize why a consumer should buy a product or use a service. This statement, if worded compellingly, convinces a potential consumer that one particular product or service the company offers will add more value or better solve a problem for them than other similar offerings will.

  • A company's value proposition tells a customer the number one reason why a product or service is best suited for that particular customer.
  • A value proposition should be communicated to customers directly, either via the company's website or other marketing or advertising materials.
  • Value propositions can follow different formats, as long as they are "on brand," unique, and specific to the company in question.
  • A successful value proposition should be persuasive and help turn a prospect into a paying customer.

A value proposition stands as a promise by a company to a customer or market segment. The proposition is an easy-to-understand reason why a customer should buy a product or service from that particular business. A value proposition should clearly explain how a product fills a need, communicate the specifics of its added benefit, and state the reason why it's better than similar products on the market. The ideal value proposition is to-the-point and appeals to a customer's strongest decision-making drivers.

The term "value proposition" is thought to have first appeared in a McKinsey & Co. industry research paper in 1988, defining it as. "as "a clear, simple statement of the benefits, both tangible and intangible, that the company will provide, along with the approximate price it will charge each customer segment for those benefits."

Companies use this statement to target customers who will benefit most from using the company's products, and this helps maintain a company's economic moat. An economic moat is a competitive advantage. The moat analogy—coined by super-investor Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway—states that the wider the moat, the bigger and more resilient the firm is to competition.

A great value proposition demonstrates what a brand has to offer a customer that no other competitor has and how a service or product fulfills a need that no other company is able to fill.

A company's value proposition communicates the number one reason why a product or service is best suited for a customer segment. Therefore, it should always be displayed prominently on a company's website and in other consumer touch points. It also must be intuitive, so that a customer can read or hear the value proposition and understand the delivered value without needing further explanation.

Value propositions that stand out tend to make use of a particular structure. A successful value proposition typically has a strong, clear headline that communicates the delivered benefit to the consumer. The headline should be a single memorable sentence, phrase, or even a tagline. It frequently incorporates catchy slogans that become part of successful advertising campaigns.

Often a subheadline will be provided underneath the main headline, expanding on the explanation of the delivered value and giving a specific example of why the product or service is superior to others the consumer has in mind. The subheading can be a short paragraph and is typically between two and three sentences long. The subheading is a way to highlight the key features or benefits of the products and often benefits from the inclusion of bullet points or another means of highlighting standout details.

This kind of structure allows consumers to scan the value proposition quickly and pick up on product features. Added visuals increase the ease of communication between business and consumer. In order to craft a strong value proposition, companies will often conduct market research to determine which messages resonate the best with their customers.

Value propositions can follow different formats as long as they are unique to the company and to the consumers the company services. All effective value propositions are easy to understand and demonstrate specific results for a customer using a product or service. They differentiate a product or service from any competition, avoid overused marketing buzzwords, and communicate value within a short amount of time.

For a value proposition to effectively turn a prospect into a paying customer, it should clearly identify who the customers are, what their main problems are, and how the company's product or service is the ideal solution to help them solve their problem.

A value proposition is meant to convince stakeholders, investors, or customers that a company or its products/services are worthwhile. If the value proposition is weak or unconvincing it may be difficult to attract investment and consumer demand.

An employee value proposition (EVP) applies to the job market. Here, a company that is hiring will try to frame itself as a good place to work, offering not only monetary compensation but also a range of benefits, perks, and a productive environment. In return, the job candidate will need to convince the hiring company that they have the appropriate skills, experience, demeanor, and ambition to succeed.

If a company cannot convince others that it has value or that its products or services or valuable, it will lose profitability and access to capital and may ultimately go out of business.

Present value (PV) is the current value of a future sum of money or stream of cash flows given a specified rate of return. Future cash flows are discounted at the discount rate, and the higher the discount rate, the lower the present value of the future cash flows. Determining the appropriate discount rate is the key to properly valuing future cash flows, whether they be earnings or debt obligations.

  • Present value states that an amount of money today is worth more than the same amount in the future.
  • In other words, present value shows that money received in the future is not worth as much as an equal amount received today.
  • Unspent money today could lose value in the future by an implied annual rate due to inflation or the rate of return if the money was invested.
  • Calculating present value involves assuming that a rate of return could be earned on the funds over the period.
  • Present value is calculated by taking the expected cash flows of an investment and discounting them to the present day.

Present value is the concept that states an amount of money today is worth more than that same amount in the future. In other words, money received in the future is not worth as much as an equal amount received today.

Receiving $1,000 today is worth more than $1,000 five years from now. Why? An investor can invest the $1,000 today and presumably earn a rate of return over the next five years. Present value takes into account any interest rate an investment might earn.

For example, if an investor receives $1,000 today and can earn a rate of return of 5% per year, the $1,000 today is certainly worth more than receiving $1,000 five years from now. If an investor waited five years for $1,000, there would be an opportunity cost or the investor would lose out on the rate of return for the five years.

Inflation is the process in which prices of goods and services rise over time. If you receive money today, you can buy goods at today's prices. Presumably, inflation will cause the price of goods to rise in the future, which would lower the purchasing power of your money.

Money not spent today could be expected to lose value in the future by some implied annual rate, which could be inflation or the rate of return if the money was invested. The present value formula discounts the future value to today's dollars by factoring in the implied annual rate from either inflation or the rate of return that could be achieved if a sum was invested.

The discount rate is the investment rate of return that is applied to the present value calculation. In other words, the discount rate would be the forgone rate of return if an investor chose to accept an amount in the future versus the same amount today. The discount rate that is chosen for the present value calculation is highly subjective because it's the expected rate of return you'd receive if you had invested today's dollars for a period of time.

In many cases, a risk-free rate of return is determined and used as the discount rate, which is often called the hurdle rate. The rate represents the rate of return that the investment or project would need to earn in order to be worth pursuing. A U.S. Treasury bond rate is often used as the risk-free rate because Treasuries are backed by the U.S. government. So, for example, if a two-year Treasury paid 2% interest or yield, the investment would need to at least earn more than 2% to justify the risk.

The discount rate is the sum of the time value and a relevant interest rate that mathematically increases future value in nominal or absolute terms. Conversely, the discount rate is used to work out future value in terms of present value, allowing a lender to settle on the fair amount of any future earnings or obligations in relation to the present value of the capital. The word "discount" refers to future value being discounted to present value.

The calculation of discounted or present value is extremely important in many financial calculations. For example, net present value, bond yields, and pension obligations all rely on discounted or present value. Learning how to use a financial calculator to make present value calculations can help you decide whether you should accept such offers as a cash rebate, 0% financing on the purchase of a car, or pay points on a mortgage.

 Present Value = FV ( 1 + r ) n where: FV = Future Value r = Rate of return n = Number of periods \begin{aligned} &\text{Present Value} = \dfrac{\text{FV}}{(1+r)^n}\\ &\textbf{where:}\\ &\text{FV} = \text{Future Value}\\ &r = \text{Rate of return}\\ &n = \text{Number of periods}\\ \end{aligned} Present Value=(1+r)nFVwhere:FV=Future Valuer=Rate of returnn=Number of periods

  1. Input the future amount that you expect to receive in the numerator of the formula.
  2. Determine the interest rate that you expect to receive between now and the future and plug the rate as a decimal in place of "r" in the denominator.
  3. Input the time period as the exponent "n" in the denominator. So, if you want to calculate the present value of an amount you expect to receive in three years, you would plug the number three in for "n" in the denominator.
  4. There are a number of online calculators, including this present value calculator.

A comparison of present value with future value (FV) best illustrates the principle of the time value of money and the need for charging or paying additional risk-based interest rates. Simply put, the money today is worth more than the same money tomorrow because of the passage of time. Future value can relate to the future cash inflows from investing today's money, or the future payment required to repay money borrowed today.

Future value (FV) is the value of a current asset at a specified date in the future based on an assumed rate of growth. The FV equation assumes a constant rate of growth and a single upfront payment left untouched for the duration of the investment. The FV calculation allows investors to predict, with varying degrees of accuracy, the amount of profit that can be generated by different investments.

Present value (PV) is the current value of a future sum of money or stream of cash flows given a specified rate of return. Present value takes the future value and applies a discount rate or the interest rate that could be earned if invested. Future value tells you what an investment is worth in the future while the present value tells you how much you'd need in today's dollars to earn a specific amount in the future.

Future returns are usually compared to a baseline equal to the yield on a U.S. Treasury Bond, rather than zero. This is because Treasurys are considered extremely low risk, and they are used to represent the risk-free rate of return.

As stated earlier, calculating present value involves making an assumption that a rate of return could be earned on the funds over the time period. In the discussion above, we looked at one investment over the course of one year.

However, if a company is deciding to go ahead with a series of projects that has a different rate of return for each year and each project, the present value becomes less certain if those expected rates of return are not realistic. It's important to consider that in any investment decision, no interest rate is guaranteed, and inflation can erode the rate of return on an investment.

Let's say you have the choice of being paid $2,000 today earning 3% annually or $2,200 one year from now. Which is the best option?

  • Using the present value formula, the calculation is $2,200 / (1 +. 03)1 = $2135.92
  • PV = $2,135.92, or the minimum amount that you would need to be paid today to have $2,200 one year from now. In other words, if you were paid $2,000 today and based on a 3% interest rate, the amount would not be enough to give you $2,200 one year from now.
  • Alternatively, you could calculate the future value of the $2,000 today in a year's time: 2,000 x 1.03 = $2,060.

Present value provides a basis for assessing the fairness of any future financial benefits or liabilities. For example, a future cash rebate discounted to present value may or may not be worth having a potentially higher purchase price. The same financial calculation applies to 0% financing when buying a car.

Paying some interest on a lower sticker price may work out better for the buyer than paying zero interest on a higher sticker price. Paying mortgage points now in exchange for lower mortgage payments later makes sense only if the present value of the future mortgage savings is greater than the mortgage points paid today.

Present value is calculated by taking the future cashflows expected from an investment and discounting them back to the present day. To do so, the investor needs three key data points: the expected cashflows, the number of years in which the cashflows will be paid, and their discount rate. The discount rate is a very important factor in influencing the present value, with higher discount rates leading to a lower present value, and vice-versa. Using these variables, investors can calculate the present value using the formula:

Present Value=FV(1+r)nwhere:FV=Future Valuer=Rate of returnn=Number of periods\begin{aligned} &\text{Present Value} = \dfrac{\text{FV}}{(1+r)^n}\\ &\textbf{where:}\\ &\text{FV} = \text{Future Value}\\ &r = \text{Rate of return}\\ &n = \text{Number of periods}\\ \end{aligned}Present Value=(1+r)nFVwhere:FV=Future Valuer=Rate of returnn=Number of periods

To illustrate, consider a scenario where you expect to earn a $5,000 lump sum payment in five years' time. If the discount rate is 8.25%, you want to know what that payment will be worth today so you calculate the PV = $5000/(1.0825)5 = 3,363.80.

Present value is important because it allows investors to judge whether or not the price they pay for an investment is appropriate. For example, in our previous example, having a 12% discount rate would reduce the present value of the investment to only $1,802.39. In that scenario, we would be very reluctant to pay more than that amount for the investment, since our present value calculation indicates that we could find better opportunities elsewhere. Present value calculations like this play a critical role in areas such as investment analysis, risk management, and financial planning.

Present value (PV) is a way of representing the current value of future cash flows, based on the principle that money in the present is worth more than money in the future. Present value is used to value the income from loans, mortgages, and other assets that may take many years to realize their full value. Investors use these calculations to compare the value of assets with very different time horizons.