An empirical investigation of international consumer market segmentation decisions.

摘要

Segmentation is the process of dividing market participants into groups that share attitudes or behavioral propensities toward a product or service in order to target that group with customized marketing campaigns. Identifying and targeting appropriate customer segments is a critical step for a firm just entering international markets as well as for established international marketers.; This dissertation presents a three-step model that has empirically proven to be an accurate normative representation of the international consumer marketing segmentation decision-making process. According to the dissertation model, the three steps comprising a firm's international segmentation strategy decision-making are: (1) determining which country or region to enter by evaluating country attractiveness; (2) determining which consumer segments to serve within the target country or region by evaluating within-country segment bases; and, (3) determining whether the segments will be managed on a local, regional, or global bases. The data does support the model as an accurate normative depiction of the best practices of firms involved in international segmentation. This model was developed for the dissertation and is unique to the current research.; The central premise tested in the current research is whether utilization of the model elements positively contributes to the successful performance of the firm's segmentation strategy. The dissertation data was gathered from key informants at 63 active North America based marketing organizations. Each key informant was qualified as a study participant as part of the data gathering process.; Two of the model decision elements, evaluating within-country segment bases and scale of segment management, have been shown to positively contribute to segmentation strategy performance based upon the dissertation data. In addition, specific within-country segment bases market potential, culture, and socio-economic level have all been demonstrated to be significantly related to segmentation strategy performance. Manage each country as a separate market as a scale of segment management has proven to be significantly related to segmentation strategy performance. These findings represent a new and unique contribution to the understanding of international segmentation as well as offering support for a number of future research efforts.