Marketing Fundamentals: Analysis of Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning

This paper analyzes the utilization of marketing fundamentals like segmenting, targeting and positioning as used in chapter 6 and 15 of Alexandra Samuel's 2016 journal 'Psychographics Are Just as Important for Marketers as Demographics.' It discusses the benefits and problems of segmentation models and emphasizes the importance of psychographics over demographics. The paper concludes with recommendations for marketers to use psychographics to understand their customers better.

Marketing Fundamentals
0 | P a g e

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Discussion...................................................................................................................................................2
Analysis.......................................................................................................................................................3
Answers...................................................................................................................................................4
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................5
References...................................................................................................................................................6
1 | P a g e

Introduction
This paper concentrates on the topic of marketing fundamentals like segmenting, targeting and
positioning and tries to analyze the utilization of these aspects as used in chapter 6 and 15 of
Alexandra Samuel's 2016 journal " Psychographics Are Just as Important for Marketers as
Demographics." Market segmentation is a way of dividing the market of probable buyers into
groups by their various preferences. Positioning is that method where the firms should assess the
competitive benefits and their status in the minds of the customers to be the most lucrative
option. Psychographics could be utilized to explain customers on mental qualities.
Discussion
In marketing, segmenting, targeting and positioning is a structure that reviews the methods of
marketing segmentation (Alt and Iversen, 2017). Market segmentation is a method where groups
of consumers in the market are categorized according to their preferences which control the
features and trends of the market. Segmentation consists of recognizing the market to be divided:
recognition, choosing and applying the means to be utilized in that division and improvement of
the products. Targeting is the way of recognizing the most outstanding segments from the
previous step, generally the most lucrative for the firm. Positioning is the last step and is the
most vital step for the firms, where the firms should assess the competitive benefits and their
status in the minds of the customers to be the most lucrative option.
A segmentation model is a physical equipment that is presented in a spreadsheet or database, and
it gives intentions and positions to recognize important factors that are essential for the
companies to achieve their goals within a specific segment (Cross et al., 2015). There are four
types of segmentation model: demographics, geographic, psychographics and behavioral.
The benefits of segmentation model are as follows:
 Segmentation model divides a market into smaller groups of clients and firms in which
each client has a respective characteristic like their preferences or their demands
(Dolnicar et al., 2014).
 It includes creating or breaking down of probable customers into groups called market
segments.
2 | P a g e

 It also helps the marketers to recognize their probable customers and apply their
marketing strategies more efficiently.
The problems of segmentation model are as follows:
 A segmentation model which is motivated by physical, statistical model would not be
able to detect many fields and rows that have been created from many sources of
information.
 The lack of the skills to be informed by changing the behavior of the consumers is
another problem of segmentation model (Hatheway et al., 2017).
The chapter 6 and 15 of the Reading “Psychographics Are Just as Important for Marketers as
Demographics” is about the demographics and psychographics where the marketers utilized
demographics to consider and communicate as dividing the market by gender, age, culture and
many other aspects that further would help to recognize the similarities and dissimilarities
between the consumers (Müller and Hamm, 2014). Psychographics is utilized to observe the
behaviors and demands, instead of utilizing demographics, where psychographics could give in-
depth knowledge that would match with the learnings from demographics. Psychographic
aspects concentrate on collecting and examining the behavior of the consumers which are
intangible like habits, attitudes, feelings, and likings.
The Reading had emphasized one factor of the segmentation model, and that is psychographics.
Psychographics are important for the marketers to realize the best marketing policies accurately
and examine the consumer behavior (Park and Jang, 2014). The psychographic division is the
essential acknowledgment where the customers are different, and they are regularly inspired by
profoundly different value, personalities, lifestyles, and attitudes.
Analysis
Yes, it is a good article as it had provided a detailed analysis of the psychographic and
demographic factors. Demographical aspects concentrate on generic information like age, place,
job which might be misleading regarding observed similarities among the people. Psychographic
elements concentrate on collecting and examining the behavior of the consumers which are
intangible like habits, attitudes, feelings, and likings (Venter, Wright and Dibb, 2015).
3 | P a g e

Answers
Yes, I agree with the Reading that psychographics could be utilized to observe the behaviors and
demands of the customers where it could give in-depth knowledge that matches with the
learnings from demographics. Demographics could be utilized to receive the generic information
like age, place, and job of the customers which might be misleading regarding observed
similarities among the people.
Yes, it relates to the learnings of the chapters as it had been written in the journal that that
internet had improved the significance of demographic and psychographic aspects to the
marketers. It had been done by applying three techniques: by making psychographics more
active, by giving more significance to psychographic changes and by easy access to the
perceptions of psychographics (Samuel, 2016).
Yes, I could give three examples of psychographics other than the journal. The first example is
of a courageous teenage boy with aggressive manner fascinated by weapons and belongs to the
middle-class family. The second example is of the unmarried men of about 35 to 45 years with
the yearly earnings of almost $60,000. The psychographics might inform that this set of
customers are most probably enjoying a settled career and are at present searching for a better
life partner. The last example is for an automobile company where expensive cars are
manufactured. Customers with low income could buy these cars, and only customers of high
income are the genuine buyers of these cars. That is the fundamental source of segmentation for
the automobile company which had been formulated according to their marketing strategy.
Recommendations
Yes, the proposals could be adopted as psychographics is more vital than demographics. The
technological development had made psychographics more essential than before. The current
surveys and promotions had changed the psychographic aspects into a basis of strong market
study and marketing policies.
I would like to suggest the following recommendations to the other readers:
 Psychographics could help to realize the importance of the consumers of the companies.
4 | P a g e

 Psychographics could utilize to observe the behaviors and demands, instead of utilizing
demographics, where psychographics could give in-depth knowledge that would match
with the learnings from demographics.
Conclusion
This article had given the concept that psychographic information of the consumers is important
to perceive them as a person, who is from distinctive family backgrounds and has peculiar views,
interests, and objectives. This would make the companies change their mentality from thinking
about the clients as statistics and chalk out their marketing strategies accordingly.
5 | P a g e

References
Alt, J., and Iversen, T., 2017. Inequality, labor market segmentation, and preferences for
redistribution. American Journal of Political Science, 61(1), pp.21-36.
Cross, J.C., Belich, T.J. and Rudelius, W., 2015. How marketing managers use market
segmentation: An exploratory study. In Proceedings of the 1990 Academy of Marketing Science
(AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 531-536). Springer, Cham.
Dolnicar, S., Grün, B., Leisch, F. and Schmidt, K., 2014. Required sample sizes for data-driven
market segmentation analyses in tourism. Journal of Travel Research, 53(3), pp.296-306.
Hatheway, F., Kwan, A., and Zheng, H., 2017. An Empirical Analysis of Market Segmentation
on US Equity Markets. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 52(6), pp.2399-2427.
Müller, H. and Hamm, U., 2014. Stability of market segmentation with cluster analysis–A
methodological approach. Food Quality and Preference, 34, pp.70-78.
Park, J.Y. and Jang, S., 2014. Psychographics: Static or dynamic?. International Journal of
Tourism Research, 16(4), pp.351-354.
Samuel, A. (2016). Psychographics Are Just Important for the Marketers Just as Demographics.
Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, pp.2-4.
Venter, P., Wright, A. and Dibb, S., 2015. Performing market segmentation: a performative
perspective. Journal of Marketing Management, 31(1-2), pp.62-83.
6 | P a g e