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Market Segmentation

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Handbook of Market Research

Abstract

Market segmentation describes the practice of grouping consumers that are alike concerning specific characteristics. The idea is that firms can better identify and target attractive segments and customize marketing actions for each segment. Equally important, segmentation allows firms to avoid consumers that are unprofitable or otherwise incompatible with its marketing strategy. Like other marketing concepts, market segmentation has changed over the years with increasing globalization and digitalization. But the concept of market segmentation has been and will continue to be one of the key concepts in marketing practice. In this chapter, we define market segmentation along with its key characteristics, describe the process by which it unfolds, outline the main traps to avoid, and provide an outlook into the future. A key concern of this chapter is also to reflect the key challenges in business environments, such as the abundance of data, globalization, as well as the acceleration of different trends.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC) University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Tobias Schlager & Markus Christen

Authors
  1. Tobias Schlager
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  2. Markus Christen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tobias Schlager .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business-to-Business Marketing, Sales, and Pricing, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

    Christian Homburg

  2. Department of Marketing & Sales Research Group, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany

    Martin Klarmann

  3. Marketing & Sales Department, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

    Arnd Vomberg

Section Editor information

  1. University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

    Christian Homburg

  2. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Martin Klarmann

  3. University of Groningen, Groningen, Niederlande

    Arnd Vomberg

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Schlager, T., Christen, M. (2022). Market Segmentation. In: Homburg, C., Klarmann, M., Vomberg, A. (eds) Handbook of Market Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57413-4_29

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