A product life cycle is the length of time from a product first being introduced to consumers until it is removed from the market. A product’s life cycle is usually broken down into four stages; introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Product life cycles are used by management and marketing professionals to help determine advertising schedules, price points, expansion to new product markets, packaging redesigns, and more. These strategic methods of supporting a product are known as product life cycle management. They can also help determine when newer products are ready to push older ones from the market.