Abstract:

It is a truism of market research and this is nothing new that the sociocultural identity of the consumer is carrying more and more weight in the selection of products, brands or services. This rule applies particularly to mature consumer societies but is also increasingly valid for the evolving consumer goods markets all over the world, the BRICS included. As such, it is merely a further truism to say that also in those quickly changing markets target group marketing supplies that very degree of accuracy in targeting required to effectively draw a line between oneself and one's competitors.In order to supply a new and powerful tool for analyzing the socio-cultural segmentation of markets and its effects on consumer behaviour SIGMA founder Joumlrg Ueltzhoumlffer et al had created the Social Milieu approach to market segmentation, initially confined to the German marketplace. This target group approach, subject to continuous development by SIGMA, forms the analytical foundation for SIGMA Sensor Research on all continents.