by Jacqueline Garza, Lance Rowden, and Joe Clyburn
Consumers can be segmented in obvious ways, such as by gender, ethnicity, age and household income. However, there are other methods. Using behavioristic segmentation, consumers may be grouped according to benefits sought, user status, usage rate and purchase occasion.
Benefits sought segmentation is straightforward. Why did the consumer purchase the product? Was it for its high quality, low price or sex appeal? Many times, purchases are made because of what the brand symbolizes.
User status has six categories: sole users, semi-sole users, discount users, aware nontriers, trial rejecters and repertoire users. These categories can be discussed in terms of “brand A” vs. “brand B.”
Usage rate is used to determine and differentiate light, medium and heavy users of a product. For instance, a consumer may buy toothpaste heavily, but gum sparingly.
Lastly, purchase occasion can be defined as when a product is purchased. Is the product bought regularly or rarely? Or, is the product a popular fad? The product may be purchased because of the time of year, such as a Christmas tree.
Our three interviews captured each of these concepts, but it should be noted that we combined user status and usage rate into one interview because they are fairly similar. Our first respondent, Jessica, discussed why she bought her new Nissan. She talked about its benefits and what it symbolizes to her. Tom, our second respondent, discussed user status and usage rate in terms of coffee. He is a semi-sole user of “brand A” (Folgers) and he purchases it weekly, so he is a heavy user. Our final respondent, Jake, was interviewed concerning purchase occasion. Arguably, the Nintendo Wii is a popular fad, and he was swayed by friends in his purchase.
Behavioristic segmentation applications are useful to businesses. By finding common characteristics among heavy users of their products, marketers can define product differences and focus ad campaigns more effectively. A marketer who discovers common purchase occasions for a group has a potential target segment and can better determine when to run specials and how to promote certain product categories. By measuring the importance of occasion-based motives, an advertiser can determine if a campaign needs to reposition the product.
Team "Behavioristic Segmentation"
Joe Clyburn, Lance Rowden, Jacqueline Garza
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