Definition examines where customers actually purchase and could reasonably turn, considering transportation costs, regulatory barriers, and supplier reach. Markets may be local, regional, national, or global.
Digital markets complicate the analysis.
Alternative Names:
Relevant Geographic Market|Geographic Market Definition
Why it Matters?
Local market definitions produce high shares that national analysis would not, which is how monopolization claims proceed against regional hospitals, waste haulers, and distribution businesses whose national position is negligible. Evidence of customer willingness to travel or purchase remotely rebuts narrow definitions. Digital and platform markets frequently lack meaningful geographic constraints, which shifts the entire analysis to product market definition.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Why do local definitions matter?
What rebuts a narrow definition?
