Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning pdf ebook

Summary of behavioural bases for segmentation 
Many variables have been tested as bases for consumer segmentation, ranging from behav-
iour, to attitudes, to background characteristics. The most often-used characteristics are 
product and brand usage and demographics/socio-economics, primarily because of the ease 
of obtaining this sort of data from secondary sources. Ultimately, however, for a segmenta-
tion scheme to be useful to marketing management it should seek not only to describe dif-
ferences in consumers but also to explain these differences. In this respect, the development 
of consumer insights supported by sophisticated data analytics helps companies refine the 
way they segment the market and improves the effectiveness of their marketing strategies. 
‘Regardless of the approach to segmentation marketers choose to take, the strategy first and 
foremost must be objective led. Whether looking at a specific demographic, or focusing on 
a behavioural insight, attitude or life stage, the key is to be clear about what you want to 
achieve and resist trading in stereotypes’ ( Rogers, 2019 ).
7.6 
Segmenting business markets 
As with consumer markets, a wide variety of factors has been suggested for segmenting 
business markets, but in fact business segmentation variables can be considered under the 
same headings as those for consumer markets: 
● 
background company characteristics;
● 
attitudinal characteristics;
● 
behavioural characteristics.
It should be noted, however, that market segmentation is substantially less well devel-
oped in business marketing than consumer marketing, which may affect both the accept-
ability of different approaches to companies and the availability of information and support 

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CHAPTER 7 SEGMENTATION AND POSITIONING PRINCIPLES
to use a particular approach. It should also be noted that in business-to-business marketing 
it is far more common to find a one-to-one relationship between supplier and customer. In 
this situation, the segmentation approach may best be applied inside the customer organi-
sation. The following segmentation structure utilises the model developed in Shapiro and 
Bonoma (1990).
7.6.1 Background company characteristics
Demographic characteristics of companies can be a useful starting point for business seg-
mentation; indeed, they characterise the approaches most commonly used by business 
marketing companies. Factors that can be considered here include demographics such as 
industry type, customer size and location, but also operating variables such as customer 
technology and capabilities, different purchasing policies and situational factors including 
product application.