THE TARGET AUDIENCE IDENTIFICATION METHODS.

• Geographic Segmentation
•  Demographic Segmentation
• Geo -Demographic Segmentation
• Behavioral Segmentation
•  Psychographic Segmentation

  TYPES OF AUDIENCE SEGMENTATION

 A market segmentation strategy is aimed at dividing a mass heterogeneous market into different segments of buyers. Each segment has individuals who have similar interests. The interests of each segment may vary with regard to products.

Traditionally there were two approaches in market segmentation:

Product oriented and People oriented.

a)     Product oriented approach measures the product related aspects by segmenting the consumers to understand the market and
b)    People Oriented Approach measures the people and relates it to the product (Plummer,1974).

a.      For example, a cosmetic company can increase their customer base, by targeting audience of different age groups with products designed to meet their specific needs.

 GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION:

 Location plays a vital role in defining the needs of individual geographic areas. In geographic segmentation, the market is divided on the basis of geographic location of the consumers i.e. nations, states, regions, counties, cities or neighborhoods. It helps in localising the products, advertising and sales effort to geographic differences in needs and wants. Marketers also study the population density or regional climate as factors of geographic segmentation.

 

DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION

Demographic segmentation means to segregate a market on the basis of population (socio-economic) based variables such as age, education, income, family size, race, gender, occupation, nationality etc..

 Demographic segmentation is one of the simplest and most commonly used forms of classifying audiences because the products and services we buy, how we use those products, and how much we are willing to spend on them are all measurable data and are can be gathered through Subsets of demographic segmentation are:

● Age: Classifying audiences on the basis of age is most profound. It is usually done by using age cohorts.

GEO-DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION

 Geo-demographic segmentation means people from one area/location/ region will reflect similarities or likeness in age /income/education/gender/ family life cycles.

In Tamilnadu, the Tirunelveli community is targeted by the dine out eateries and restaurants because of their desire for eating out. By using the ZIP code and the postal address to classify all the households into 66 segments. There are four segments in this application

 ● Movers and Shakers: Who are adult primes and seniors in the age group of 35-64. They are around 10% of the total population. They are at least graduates and are professionals aspiring or have already set up their own business. Their median income is high. They are dual income executives or white-collar professionals with high salary.

 Understanding the Target Audience salaries. They reside in elite suburbs and are at the parenthood and post-parenthood stage in the family life cycle. They are often nuclear families, who travel, are technology lovers, heavy users of internet and own luxury products.

● generation S: They are generation S, or senior citizens in the age cohort (64 +). They are graduates, older but active. They are affluent. They have recently moved on from the post parenthood to the dissolution phase when the children have moved to their respective places of work. They are energetic and want to spend on travel and lifestyle.

 ● Boomtown singles: They are under 35 working class usually employed in service sector. They are not married and pursue upwardly mobile lifestyles. They are referred to as young achievers who consume media in print, TV and internet platforms.

● below poverty line: These are small job workers with low incomes. They are young and live in economy colonies. They are generally clustered in specific areas of the region. They are modestly educated and have no income for high end entertainment.

BEHAVIORAL SEGMENTATION

Behavioral segmentation organises the consumer market on purchase related factors. It involves dividing the market into  buying behavior, consumption and usage patterns. For instance younger buyers may tend to purchase body wash, while older consumer groups may lean towards soap bars. Segmenting markets based off purchase behaviors enables marketers to develop a more targeted approach.

a) Purchase Occasion: It entails determining the segments based on the usage situation. Buying prospects are classified upon why they buy or make purchase depending upon their likelihood of use. On this basis, they can be classified as regular buyers and special occasion buyers. Purchase occasion takes into account the seasonal concentration / density of use of a good or a service, frequency of use of a product and emergence of a new trend or fad. This segmentation allows the manufacturer/ wholesaler to develop seasonal consumer incentives aimed at a right target.

 b) Benefits Sought: It is also referred to as benefit segmentation by the marketers. It involves categorizing consumers on the basis of the advantage they seek from the product. Benefits include rational and Overview of Advertising emotions benefits like quality, durability, economy, prestige, fitness, status, sexual pleasure, sensory pleasure etc.

 five types of benefits:

 

1. Functional benefits

2. Value for Money

3. Social benefits

4. Positive emotional benefits

 5. Negative emotional benefits

 PSYCHOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION 

Conducting psychographic market segmentation is a critical task for business development and thus, needs special attention. Every individual has varied demands and opinions. Brands must focus not only on dividing the market based on psychographics but also to connect with their target market on the basis of psychographics.

There are five psychographic segmentation variables on the basis of which homogeneous segments can be prepared for proper research –  

1.     Personality,

2.     Lifestyle,

3.     Social Status,

4.     AIO (Activities, Interests, Opinions), and