what is the difference between monopolistic competition and a monopoly 
a monopoly is when a single company dominates an industry and can set prices for its product without fear of competition monopolies limit consumer choices and control production quantity and quality monopolistic competitive companies must compete with others restricting their ability to substantially raise prices without affecting demand and providing a range of product choices for consumers monopolistic competition is more common than monopolies which are discouraged in free market nations the bottom linemonopolistic competition exists when many companies offer competitive products or services that are similar but not exact substitutes hair salons and clothing are examples of industries with monopolistic competition pricing and marketing are key strategies for competing companies and often rely on branding or discount pricing strategies to increase market share 