alysis is concerned with the steps required to permit a marketing organization to effectively interact with the marketplace.
Market segmentation is the first step in the target mar keting process. Market segmentation is the "management 4strategy in which one or more groups of potential customers having similar within group characteristics is selected and separate marketing mixes are developed for each."3 The process of market segmentation is the subdividing of a market into dis tinct customer sub sets, where any sub set may conveivably be selected as a target market to be reached with a distinct marketing mix. Marketing segmentation may be accomplished on the bases of demographic characteristics or geographic disper sion, each of which is widely employed, or market segmentation may be based on one of the following differentiation criteria: (1) preference segments (homogeneous, diffused, or clustered); (2) psychographic characteristics; or (3) behavioristic charac teristics (buyer purchase occasions
...