Monopolistic competition is imperfect competition

Imperfect competition

In economic theory, imperfect competition is the competitive situation in any market where the conditions necessary for perfect competition are not satisfied...

 where many competing producers sell products that are differentiated

Differentiation (economics)

Differentiation is a concept used in business strategy and describes one of the three ways to establish competitive advantage.Differentiation advantage occurs when a firm delivers greater services for a non-unlimited higher price than its competitors...

 from one another (that is, the products are substitutes

Substitute good

In economics, one way we classify goods is by examining the relationship of the demand schedules when the price of one good changes. This relationship between demand schedules leads economists to classify goods as either substitutes or complements. Substitute goods are goods which, as a result...

 but, because of differences such as branding, not exactly alike). In monopolistic competition, a firm takes the prices charged by its rivals as given and ignores the impact of its own prices on the prices of other firms. In a monopolistically competitive market, firms can behave like monopolies in the short run, including by using market power to generate profit.