The Theory of Natural limits was introduced by American economist and author Tom Osenton is his 2004 book The Death of Demand: Finding Growth in a Saturated Global Economy (Financial Times Prentice Hall) and states that every product or service has a natural consumption level that is determined after a number of years of sales and marketing investment (usually around 20-25 years). In effect, a relative universe of regular users is naturally established over time after which any significant expansion of that universe becomes extraordinarily difficult. The point at which natural limits are reached is known as Innovation saturation.
"Every product or service has a natural consumption level," said Osenton. "We just don't know what it is until we launch it, distribute it, and promote it for a generation's time (20 years or more) after which further investment to expand the universe beyond normal limits can be a futile exercise."
For example, the American weekly consumer magazine Sports Illustrated was launched in 1954 with 400,000 subscribers and grew through the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s until reaching 3.5 million subscribers in the late 1980s where it has remained ever since. With some estimates of up to 100 million sports fans in the United States, many at Time, Inc. believed that Sports Illustrated's subscription base could have been much higher. However, after many years of investment, the sportsweekly's natural and most profitable consumption level was reached where it has remained for more than 20 years.