Ideally, your products have unique selling propositions (USPs). These unique, intrinsic promises of a product highlight, as a competitive advantage, at best an incomparable benefit of one’s own offering compared to the offerings of competitors. However, they are only perceived as a value by customers if they really solve problems or meet needs.
Your product offering is perceived as good if your product is able to cover basic, but also personal needs of customers or end users.
Example: The positioning and perception of Apple’s products offer a very proven and well-functioning technical basis and are perceived by customers as particularly innovative and with an outstanding design.
The subjective perception of the customers determines the actual positioning of the product in the market, which may well deviate from the intended positioning due to the design, the brand and the attitude to life conveyed.
Example: A Harley-Davidson is basically just a motorcycle. The benefit and value of a Harley-Davidson is not derived from the motorcycle, but from belonging to a community (HD chapter), from an attitude to life.
The product offering is largely determined by product management.