Explain the four major segmentation variables for consumer markets

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

For consumer marketing, the major segmentation variables are geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral. Geographic segmentation divides the market into different geographic units, such as nations, regions, states, countries, cities, or neighborhoods. Many companies are localizing their products, advertising, promotion, and sales efforts to fit the needs of individual regions, cities, and neighborhoods. Demographic segmentation divides the market into groups based on variables such as age, life-cycle stage, gender, income, occupation, education, religion, ethnicity, and generation. These are the most popular factors because they are easy to measure, and consumer needs, wants, and usage rates often vary closely with demographic variables. Psychographic segmentation, on the other hand, divides buyers into different groups based on social class, lifestyle, or personality characteristics. People in the same demographic group can have very different psychographic characteristics. Behavioral segmentation divides buyers into groups based on their knowledge, attitudes, uses, or responses to a product. Many marketers believe that behavioral variables are the best starting point for building market segments.