Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning pdf ebook

relationship seekers: who want a close, long-term relationship with the supplier or 
retailer;
● 
relationship exploiters: who want only a short-term relationship with the supplier, but 
are happy with a close relationship, which they will exploit for any advantages on offer;

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SEGMENTING BUSINESS MARKETS
● 
loyal buyers: who want a long-term relationship, but at a distance;
● 
arm’s-length transaction customers: who do not want close relationships with suppli-
ers and will shop around for the best deal because they see no value in a long-term 
relationship.
An example of an integrated study of consumer characteristics on a global scale is work 
done by the US agency Roper Starch ( Shermach, 1995) . International business has much 
interest in whether consumer segments cut across national boundaries and may be more 
useful than traditional geographical approaches to planning marketing. The study identified 
the following segments from 40,000 respondents in 40 countries: 
● 
deal-makers: well educated, aged in their early 30s, with average affluence and employ-
ment (29 per cent of the sample);
● 
price-seekers: a high proportion of retirees and lowest education level with an average 
level of affluence and more females than males (23 per cent of the sample);
● 
brand loyalists: mostly male, aged in their mid-30s, with average education and employ-
ment, and the least affluent group (23 per cent of the sample);
● 
luxury innovators: the most educated and affluent shoppers, mostly male, in professional 
and executive employment; they seek new, prestigious brands (21 per cent of the sample).
The proportions of consumers in these groups varies in interesting ways across the geo-
graphic areas: deal-makers predominate in the United States, Asia, Latin America and the 
Middle East; price-seekers exist mainly in competitive developed markets such as Europe 
and Japan. Although producing only stereotypes, the study suggests that consumer behav-
ioural and purchase characteristics may be stronger predictors of purchase behaviour than 
the traditional country–market definitions used in export and international marketing.