Understanding the process by which new ideas, products and services are picked up, communicated and adopted is key to the success of developing both new and old products. In each case, Early Adopters are the group to watch closely but how can they be identified. Are there common denominators which define this group both nationally and internationally?
This paper describes some of the perceptions and attitudes of Latin American teenagers towards their lives and specifically explores their attitudes towards information technology. It reports the existence of several segments of young people and describes them in terms of general acceptance of the new technology as well as specific barriers that prevent a more complete and harmonic integration with the tools of the new millennium.
In attempting to develop market segments for retail establishments, a Segmentation Index can be used effectively. This is a tool constructed by using a number of subjective and objective criteria in order to determine socio-economic status of the existing customers of an on going concern. Segmentation Index is an important guide for marketing strategy development. In addition to its uses to identify the market segments and loyal versus casual customers, Segmentation Index displays an important relationship to Store Image. By developing congruence between Segmentation Index and Store Image the firm can improve its probability of survival and prosperity in its niche in the marketplace.
The TGI was launched in Britain five years ago. This paper does not set out to describe how the service operates or how, in general, it is used to judge the relative selectivity in reaching target markets of individual publications, on the one hand, or of individual television areas on the other. The Target Group Index was established by BMRB in 1968-69 as a syndicated research service available to advertisers, agencies and media owners. Fieldwork is continuous and involves 25,000 interviews over a 12 month period with adults aged 15 or over in Great Britain. While most of the demographic classifications are recorded at a personal interview the answers to the product and media questions are collected by self-completion.
An inductive approach is presented in this paper. This approach involves the following stages: The detailed discussion of a study which attempted to identify different market segments to which four separate retail establishments have been catering; the construction of what is termed a segmentation Index; the analysis of universality of the segmentation Index ; and finally the construction of a logical flow model as a guideline for development of a segmentation Index. The largest section of this paper which is the detailed discussion of an empirical study is based on an analysis of the characteristics of typical customers of four retail stores in buying wall-to-wall carpeting. The present article offers a brief discussion of the criteria that can be used for segmentation, the findings of a field study are presented, and finally, an attempt is made to measure the segments on the basis of an index and to focus upon the role of segmentation in the struggle for survival.