Explain in detail the method marketers employ in MPR to determine whether a market segment is an appropriate target market

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Marketers generally gauge market segments according to five characteristics in order to determine whether the segment is a suitable target market.
First, market segments should be identifiable. The segment must be measurable along a set of defined demographic, psychographic and/or behavioral characteristics such as gender, age, lifestyle, attitudes, etc.
The segment also needs to be accessible. Relying on techniques within the communication marketing mix, marketers convey messages about their products to consumers. Because MPR depends on the influence of connectors upon consumers, it is essential that consumers have access to connectors.
The segment also needs to be sufficiently substantial to make access cost-efficient. The ideal market size will vary according to the cost of reaching a target market and the profitability of the good or service being promoted. Because of the relatively low cost and high credibility associated with waging MPR campaigns, marketers have been able to pursue market segments below size thresholds that ordinarily would prohibit organizations from considering conventional elements in the communication marketing mix, such as advertising.
A segment must remain durable — in existence long enough for the marketer to realize an acceptable return on investment (ROI). MPR, however, places less emphasis on durability as a crucial factor in verifying whether a market segment is worthwhile considering. MPR furnishes organizations with a quick, powerful and affordable means to access short-lived markets that are rapidly responding to trends in the marketplace.
Last, a marketer should be able to easily differentiate one segment from any other under consideration. Segments sharing similar characteristics may be sufficiently undifferentiated to prompt marketers to treat them as a single segment. The growth and spread of specialized, targeted media — in particular web-based vehicles and certain print publications — have further differentiated markets along such criteria as interests, allowing marketers to reach consumers through very tailored messages. Identification of these micro-markets has been further facilitated by marketers' enhanced understanding of the ways messages propagate among consumers.