Market segmentation
Satisfying consumers and understanding their needs is the basis of marketing theory or
marketing concept (Schiffman et al., 2008). There are differences in customer needs and it
is rarely possible to satisfy all customers by treating them the same (Barber et al., 2008).
Market segmentation allows for assurance that some of these different needs are being met.
The process involves “dividing a market into distinct subsets of consumers with common
needs or characteristics and selecting one or more segments to target with a distinct
marketing mix” (Schiffman et al., 2008 p. 44). Before market segmentation, companies
would take a “mass marketing approach by offering the same product to all consumers
through the same marketing approaches” (Schiffman et al., 2008 p. 44).