MARKET SIGNALS
A market signal is any action by a competitor that provides direct or indirect indications of its intention, motives, goals or internal situation. Some signals are bluffs, some are warnings and some are serious commitments to a course of action. Market signals are indirect ways of communicating in the market place and can be interpreted so as to assist competitor analysis and strategy formulation. A prerequisite to interpreting signals correctly is to develop a baseline competitor analysis—an understanding of a competitor’s future goals, assumptions about the market and themselves, current strategies and capabilities. The ability to read market signals rests on subtle judgements about competitors relating to known aspects of their situations with their behaviour.