Market Segmentation

This book is published open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This open access book offers something for everyone working with market segmentation: practical guidance for users of market segmentation solutions; organisational guidance on implementation issues; guidance for market researchers in charge of collecting suitable data; and guidance for data analysts with respect to the technical and statistical aspects of market segmentation analysis. Even market segmentation experts will find something new, including an approach to exploring data structure and choosing a suitable number of market segments, and a vast array of useful visualisation techniques that make interpretation of market segments and selection of target segments easier. The book talks the reader through every single step, every single potential pitfall, and every single decision that needs to be made to ensure market segmentation analysis is conducted as well as possible. All calculations are accompanied not only with a detailed explanation, but also with R code that allows readers to replicate any aspect of what is being covered in the book using R, the open-source environment for statistical computing and graphics.

This is a major revision of the highly successful first edition of Market Segmentation. In today's marketplace, effectively segmenting the market in order to target profitable customers is key to many companies' own profitability and growth. First published in 1995, this book was the first of its kind to help practitioners tackle this issue head on, providing step-by-step guidance through the difficult terrain of market segmentation. Since its publication the authors have further extended their experience, working with numerous international companies successfully segmenting their markets, experience which is reflected in this edition. Market Segmentation, 2nd edition is written in an even more accessible style and incorporates valuable lessons learnt from working with a wide range of companies in a variety of markets over many years. Containing a new worked case study, this book provides practical guidance to the subject and is a must-read for all business professionals.

Modern marketing techniques in industrialized countries cannot be implemented without segmentation of the potential market. Goods are no longer produced and sold without a significant consideration of customer needs combined with a recognition that these needs are heterogeneous. Since first emerging in the late 1950s, the concept of segmentation has been one of the most researched topics in the marketing literature. Segmentation has become a central topic to both the theory and practice of marketing, particularly in the recent development of finite mixture models to better identify market segments. This second edition of Market Segmentation updates and extends the integrated examination of segmentation theory and methodology begun in the first edition. A chapter on mixture model analysis of paired comparison data has been added, together with a new chapter on the pros and cons of the mixture model. The book starts with a framework for considering the various bases and methods available for conducting segmentation studies. The second section contains a more detailed discussion of the methodology for market segmentation, from traditional clustering algorithms to more recent developments in finite mixtures and latent class models. Three types of finite mixture models are discussed in this second section: simple mixtures, mixtures of regressions and mixtures of unfolding models. The third main section is devoted to special topics in market segmentation such as joint segmentation, segmentation using tailored interviewing and segmentation with structural equation models. The fourth part covers four major approaches to applied market segmentation: geo-demographic, lifestyle, response-based, and conjoint analysis. The final concluding section discusses directions for further research.

* McDonald and Dunbar are the leading author team in this area * Segmentation and marketing mapping are core areas of the marketing syllabus, and there is much that is new as a result of the new segmentation possibilities from e-marketing and e-business * The book has a textbook feel, which highlights the diagrams and market maps (key elements of the book) This is a key book, in a vital area. The Butterworth-Heinemann edition of what was previously published by MacMillian, is a thoroughly revised and updated version. * Highly developed and well illustrated treatment of a key marketing technique * Usable by students and executives, for whom the practical, step-by-step approach is designed * Leading author team in the field

This is a practical how-to guide to what marketers need to know about defining, segmenting and targeting business markets: assessing customer needs; gauging the competition; designing winning strategies; and maximising corporate resources.

Market segmentation is a main aspect of an effective business strategy, but implementation is often difficult and ultimately unsuccessful. Market Segmentation Success: Making It Happen! offers a solid review of the concepts of market segmentation and target market selection, as well as clearly explaining how to create market segments, how to select which customers to target, what problems will be encountered, and how to best overcome these challenges to success. Marketing experts Sally Dibb and Lyndon Simkin use their consultancy-inspired guidance in this easy-to-read text that provides best practice processes, detailed illustrations, and helpful real-world case examples. Market Segmentation Success: Making It Happen! explores the principles and foundations of segmentation, types of problems reported by practitioners, and offers strategies for solving them. The importance of understanding the customer is discussed at length, along with contrasting approaches to conducting quantitative, qualitative, Greenfield, or evolution segmentation. The authors discuss in detail how to identify, diagnose, and treat segmentation blockers and provide 30 rules for segmentation success. This how-to guidebook shows students, beginners, and even the more seasoned professionals how to improve their efforts for success. The book includes numerous figures and tables to clearly illustrate concepts and data. Market Segmentation Success: Making It Happen! is an invaluable resource for business practitioners, consultants, educators, and MBA students working on marketing strategy, marketing management, and marketing operations.

Wouldn’t it be great if you had a tool for accurately predicting businesses’ future successes or failures and winners or losers based on something other than historical facts and figures about those businesses? . . . Written by a leading business school professor, this book presents business executives, investors, students, educators, and others with that tool! “Market Segmentation” is the division of businesses’ potential customers into groups based on a wide range of characteristics, including demographics, income and education levels, interests, and more. And “Needs-Based Market Segmentation,” as presented in this book, is an innovative form of market segmentation that allows accurate forecasts of businesses’ future competitive performance (successes and failures, winners and losers) by measuring today’s consumer and business needs. This book is the result of requests from students and business executives to have a document that summarizes material the author, Professor James R. Taylor, presented in MBA classes and executive education programs during his over forty-year teaching and research career at the University of Michigan’s famed Ross School of Business. The book is cleverly written as a recounting of the real-life progression of a business school student named Bob as he learned about the Needs-Based Market Segmentation process in school and then used that process to make millions in the stock market and retire early. Are you the next Bob? Read and find out.