What is market segmentation?

First, it is necessary to define the concept of the word segment itself - this is a group of buyers with certain similar needs or desires. Division of the market into segments allows companies and organizations to concentrate their efforts only on promising and profitable market segments cutting off the rest.

Segmentation of the market can be carried out both in the industrial and consumer markets.

Consider the segmentation of the consumer market. This market can be divided in the process of segmentation by several criteria. So the criteria for segmenting the market are: geographic, psychographic, demographic, behavioral.

Let's consider each criterion separately.

Segmentation of the market by geographical criterion is the division of the market into different geographical areas (units). For example, for the Russian market the following units are used: population density, city size, region, region, district. Analyzing this segmentation of the market, the company will be able to determine where its marketing efforts will be most effective. In Russia, by regions, the market is divided into the following units: Siberia and the Urals, Moscow and Leningrad Regions, Voskresensky and Kolomensky Regions, cities of less than 5 thousand people, 5-20 thousand people, etc.

According to the demographic criterion, the segmentation of the market is the division of the market according to such characteristics as age category, gender, family size , life cycles and occupation, nationality, education, religion, etc. Such segmentation, as a rule, is carried out by companies at the stage of research for marketing. It is this segmentation that allows you to more accurately form the need for goods from certain segments of the population.

With regard to segmentation by behavioral factor , this criterion takes into account groups of buyers united on the basis of their qualifications, knowledge as users, and their responses to the provided (promoted) goods. The variables of such segmentation are the intensity of consumption (high, medium, small), the readiness to purchase the product (knows about the product or does not know about the product), the status of the user of this product (the user of this product category and not the user of this product), the utility of the purchase (prestige , Necessity), the degree of loyalty to the product (absent or there is an average absolute and strong).

Now what about the psychographic criterion of market segmentation. This kind of segmentation is performed with a scientific approach based on such a science as "psycho-dynamics". This science deals with such issues as the classification of consumers' lifestyle. Thanks to this, it is possible, on the basis of research into "psychographics," to break down consumers into certain groups in accordance with their lifestyle and character and personality.

There is still segmentation of the market by operational criteria. It is characterized by such variables - technology, user statuses, the volume of products or services offered.

And also segmentation by the so-called purchasing characteristic with variables - the organization of supply (centralized, decentralized), the structure of power (the prerogative of which department is the product - financial, production, etc.), the structure of relationships, policy and types of procurement (contract, Leasing, etc.)

It should be noted that the principles of segmentation of consumer markets do not always allow to determine the correctness of the choice of goods for a certain range of consumers. They only help the marketer to identify a possible interested category of buyers, otherwise the choice and definition of a category for each group of products is the art of the marketer. It is on his skill whether the correct segmentation group he chooses for his product or not.