In a monopolistically competitive market, how does the demand curve for a single firm's product typically appear?

In a monopolistically competitive market, the demand curve for a single firm's product is typically downward sloping. This means that if the firm wants to sell more of its product, it usually has to lower its price. The reason for this is that there are many firms in the market, each selling similar but not identical products, which means consumers can easily switch to a competitor if they find a better price or product. For example, if a coffee shop decides to lower the price of its specialty latte, it may attract more customers from nearby coffee shops that sell similar drinks. This downward slope reflects the trade-off between price and quantity sold, showing that as the price decreases, the quantity demanded generally increases.