Page 157 - Foundations of Marketing

124 Part 2 | Marketing Research and Target Markets

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that females account
for 50.8 percent and males for 49.2 percent of the total U.S.
6
population. Although they represent only slightly more than
half of the population, women disproportionately infl uence
buying decisions. It is estimated that women account for
85 percent of all consumer purchases, causing many mar-
keters to consider female customers when making market-
7
ing decisions. Take a look at the advertisement for the New
Balance sneaker. The marketers at New Balance are clearly
segmenting this product by gender, given the bright pink
color. Furthermore, the ad shows a man sketching, as if for
a fashion line. This is an image more common in a fash-
ion magazine than an athletic one and underscores that New
Balance paid attention to feminine details in designing this
product. The New Balance 870v2 is clearly a running shoe
that is targeted solely at females.
Marketers also use race and ethnicity as variables for seg-
menting markets for many products. Cosmetics, for example,
is an industry where it is important to match the shade of the
products with the skin color of customers. Iman Cosmetics
is a line created by the Ethiopian supermodel Iman, with
deeper colors designed to fl atter the skin tones of women of
Courtesy of New Balance not made for, nor marketed to, light-skinned women.
color, be they Black, Hispanic, or Asian. These products are
8
Because income strongly influences people’s product
purchases, it often provides a way to divide markets. Income
affects customers’ lifestyles and what they can afford to
buy. Product markets segmented by income include sport-
Gender Segmentation ing goods, housing, furniture, cosmetics, clothing, jewelry,
New Balance segments some of its running shoes based on home appliances, automobiles, and electronics. Although
gender, emphasizing feminine colors and design elements.
it may seem obvious to target higher-income consumers
because of their larger purchasing power, many marketers
choose to target lower-income segments because they rep-
resent a much larger population globally.
Increasingly, online retailers measure the
worth of consumers using a metric called
Who Uses Sunblock? an e-score that ranks consumers’ lifetime
values to the firm, taking into account
credit score, buying power, and purchase
60%
Snapshot 50% 10.8% 45% of firms, e-scores help firms to calculate
60%
history. Calculated by a small number
which market segments represent the most
9
40%
valuable targets.
Among the factors that influence house-
30%
hold income and product needs are marital
status and the presence and age of children.
20%
These characteristics, often combined and
called the family life cycle, affect consum-
10%

ers’ needs for housing, appliances, food and
0% beverages, automobiles, and recreational
Ages 14–17 Ages 18–24 Ages 25 and Over
equipment. Family life cycles can be divided
in various ways, as Figure 5.5 shows. This
figure depicts the process broken down into
Source: Based on the Data from Entertainment & Media Communication Institute’s Center for Skin
Cancer Prevention. nine categories.

Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.