Competitors tend to make themselves identical, in order to appeal to the broadest segment of the population. This means that:
- Key political parties have similar views on most issues, in order to reach the largest portion of the voting population.
- Where one restaurant or pub opens, many more will follow, and they will offer fairly similar menu items.
- If one manufacturer puts a new feature on their cars, computers, or breakfast cereal, everyone else will follow suit.
This principle is grounded in theories of
microeconomics, which state that markets invariably cascade toward an
equilibrium. If one player is doing better than the other players, the other players will see what's going on and change their policies. The equilibrium that results gives you a lot of similarity from one
good to another.