Wendell Smith: Market Segmentation Essay

According to Horner and Swarbrooke (2005: 39), Segmentation may be defined as the process of dividing a whole market into subgroups or segments for marketing management purposes. Market segmentation is the division of the overall market for a service into various categories with common characteristics. In response to different segments, organisations facilitate the available resources to achieve greater efficiency, in order to satisfy specific needs of customers.

What Is Market Segmentation? Market segmentation is a way of dividing the market into groups of consumers/customers which share similar features

Market segmentation is a marketing strategy that involves dividing a broad target market into subsets of consumers who have common needs and applications

Market segmentation is a concept in economics and marketing. A market segment is a sub-set of a market made up of people or organizations sharing with one or more characteristics that cause them to demand similar product and services based on qualities of those products such as price or function. With this concept as the back bone nike take these 4 key bits of research as there starting point :

Relying purely on socio-economic and demographic data only provides a partial glimpse into the needs, preferences and wants of a given target market. Psychographic-based segmentation research is often used for determining how potential customers' self-assignment to groups, unique interests and preferences for retail products and services influence and often predict their purchasing behavior and long-term loyalty (Bearden, Teel, Durand, 1978). Psychographics is the study of how customers assign

What is Market Segmentation? According to Investopedia (n.d), market segmentation is a term used in marketing that refers to the aggregating of a potential buyer into groups, or segments, that share common needs and would respond similarly to a particular action in marketing. By utilizing market segmentation it enables Victoria’s Secret to target different categories of consumers who recognize the full value of certain products and services differently from one another. Furthermore, market segmentation is an extension of market research for the purposes of identifying targeted groups of consumers in order to tailor products and branding in a way that it is attractive to that group. There are three general criteria used to identify different market segments: homogeneity, distinction and reaction (Investopedia, n.d).

Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market up into different groups of customers, in order to create different products to meet their specific needs. The most obvious type of segmentation is between customers who buy distinctly different products.

Market Segmentation – How & Why As well as the physical aspect of our store changing we have to look at the market differently. Where it was once possible to take a pile it high sell it cheap approach, to achieve broad appeal to the population we need to cater to the needs of the population. This is achieved by breaking the population into groups and then releasing products and services that meet the needs of these groups. This is known as target marketing. Although we all appreciate the theoretical economies of scale given by mass marketing a single product, there are few products that appeal to everyone.

Segmentation consists on dividing the market into distinct group reflecting different target with homogeneous needs, characteristic or behavior (Armstrong and Kotler, 2005). Before opting for a segmentation strategy it is crucial to consider the attractiveness of the segment, its homogeneity and stability, as well as the accessibility of the target group.

Market segmentation is an approach used by a company to select their target market and provide data for a marketing plan. “Market segmentation consist of a two-step process; naming broad product markets and segmenting these broad products-markets in order to select target markets and develop suitable marketing mixes” (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2014, p.97). There are 4 categories pertaining to market segmentation; behavioral, geographic, demographic, and behavioral.

The world is made up of different people, therefore segmentation provides consumers products that fulfil their individual needs. Martin (2011) states that companies have to try different segmentation variables either alone or in combination because often the best choices arise from using various strategies. There are few ways to segment a market, therefore, companies must think innovatively and be willing to re-segment if needed.

‘Market segmentation represents an effort to identify and catergorise groups of customers and countries according to common characteristics’ (Keegan and Green 2016, p.228). For any business, it is crucial that they segment their market accordingly or they will risk forgoing sales opportunities. Fahy and Jobber (2015) identify the objective of market segmentation as distinguishing groups of customers with similar requirements so

- Marketing Segmentation: is the process that companies use to divide large heterogeneous markets into small markets that can be reached more efficiently and effectively with products and services that match

When one talks about market segmentation, this refers to companies or businesses ‘dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers who have different needs, characteristics, or behaviours, and who might require separate products or marketing programs (Armstrong and Kotler, 2015).

In order to market the product into the market successfully, marketers need to have some marketing strategy to enter the desired market and make profit. Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market into subsets of consumers with common needs or characteristics (Schiffman et al., 2011). Understanding the market size and segmentation is valuable, but the keys to effective targeting is to know just how valuable specific consumer groups are, and being able to quantify the impact of consumer trends ( Berry, 1999).