The proposition that ethical sourcing is the differentiator in an otherwise undifferentiated market seems incoherent. If Barry is able to communicate to the ma

The proposition that ethical sourcing is the differentiator in an otherwise undifferentiated market seems incoherent. If Barry is able to communicate to the market that his honey operation is more ethical, then he can communicate other things to the market as well, irrespective of whether they have any substance or basis in product. Lots of brands of water out there, many different shapes and sizes of bottles. Barry's honey is differentiated, just not in terms of product. Mark can continue treating his bees badly, or he can try to discredit Barry, or he can try to differentiate his product in some way (planting health-giving plants whose pollen they can deposit into their honey). The post imagines only one assumption being relaxed: that of ethical sourcing and the ability to communicate that fact. But in relaxing those assumptions, it is natural to relax others: the power of marketing being foremost. This is a complex system and you cannot change a single variable, or imagine that Mark simply takes Barry's moralistic grandstanding lying down.