|
| In today's moving economy, new markets emerge and traditional market segments fade away. Market segmentation research is a way to keep 'your eye on the ball.' If properly done on a consistent basis, it provides a window into your current and potential markets. Qualitative research often starts the process to clearly define the ways customers perceive competing product categories, and brands within those categories.
Comprehensive market segmentation research examines a broad range of demographic and psychographic determinants. Implied in the notion of segmentation research is identifying the 'ideal brand' for each identified segment.
Methods we use include in our portfolio of market segmentation research methods:
Qualitative Market Research ...
Here we use a priori judgement regarding segment configuration and product brand positioning. We conduct preliminary focus groups or other qualitative methods -- such as depth interviews -- among market segments for which we have hypotheses as to their importance. We listen to their language. In focus groups, we probe how they talk about the product or service category. Using projective techniques, we uncover insight as to how various consumer and business audiences see and feel about the product category and competitive brands.
Our qualitative market segmentation research effort centers around refining hypotheses, discovery and refining our learning about customers whether consumers or business audiences. Our goal is to develop preliminary segmentation dimensions not draw conclusions about either their importance or size. That is done in our quantitative segmentation research effort.
Quantitative Market Segmentation Research ...
Market Segmentation Goals
- Estimate the market segment dimension salience or impact.
Market segmentation dimensions may be demographic, behavioral, attitudinal, or a combination of these which may form psychographic segments.
- Estimate the market segment dimension salience or impact.
Factors here may include buying frequency, strength of product category importance, perceived value of product use system, and consumer or business customer attitudes.
- Concept Test with real or proposed brands and product positioning and price-performance offers. Concept testing of brand and product brands, each with a unique brand image and positioning, further attunes our quest for market segment definition. The response to various brand and product positioning and price-performance offers, and their differentiated customer appeal, further refines our brand segmentation approach and conclusions.
Quantitative Market Segmentation Methods:
- Stage 1: Developmental Market Segmentation Research Survey
A developmental survey -- typically phone, or online survey -- that takes hypotheses from our qualitative market segmentation exploration, constructing the survey questionnaire to bracket the initial dimensions, measure their importance, and the position of competitive brands and cross-category brands along the dimensions. Product and brand concepts are used to refine the power of each market segmentation dimension to discriminate. Basic statistical analysis may be employed in this developmental stage.
- Stage 2: Statistical Quantitative Market Segmentation Study
Based on Stage 1 results dimensions are further refined and pared to a small relevant set. We implement a larger sample survey to allow performance of statistical measurement tools. These may include conjoint analysis, multiple regression, perceptual mapping, correspondence analysis and other multivariate techniques. Our approach to this stage is practical while maintaining statistical rigor.
The results of this multi-stage approach yields data for specific market segmentation recommendations, and preliminary branding positioning recommendations.
Contact Power Decisions Group to discuss our Market Segmentation capabilities.
See also...
Our StrategyNewsletter articles...
Market Research Q & A...
Project examples...
More about us...
|
