6. Analysis
The answer to the main research question is that the findings show some correlation
between marketing management concepts and the marketing to teens practised at
Library A and Library B. However, to answer one of the research sub-questions, much
of the marketing occurring at both libraries was organic and informal, rather than
structured and formal (Table I).
There was little consistency among staff when defining “teens”. The services
themselves reflected this range of definitions, a similar teen service often involved
different age ranges at the different branch libraries. This is not a negative effect as
such, in fact, it could suggest that teens have different needs relating to their lifestyles,
and that branch librarians have recognised psychographic segmentation without
necessarily understanding it.
A further problem with segmentation was it often revolved around the products
used, rather than using segments defining the patrons themselves. This runs counter to
consumer targeting theory, wherein the population is segmented into groups based on
demographics and lifestyle, and the marketing mix is built around those segments’
perceived needs or wants.
There was reluctance among library staff to segment patrons in more than one way
at a time. So, while able to refer to a single age group, none of the interviewees could
split the age groups further, by gender, ethnicity or other demographic variables
(Agosto et al., 2007). Many library staff emphasised the need for events to appeal to all
teens. However, the potential consequences of this approach were apparent, with one
operational staff member who had tried to make a book club appeal to a wide range of
teens finding that the club did not work – “the ones that are avid readers do not want
to come to a book club to talk about how they’ve found a book. They don’t like the
social aspect of it, especially when they’re mixed with non-readers. The non-readers
just go there for free food and a good time.” Either the club needed to have a finer focus
in terms of which teens it was aimed at or another product with wider appeal should
have been chosen. These problems do not show an inability to segment markets so
much as inconsistent consumer targeting