Kudler Fine Foods have hired ABC Consultants to evaluate the significance of psychographic and demographic information as the company prepares to design its marketing strategies. In addition, our company is also tasked with the responsibility of assessing when Kudler Fine Foods should use data generated to make marketing decisions.
Over the past few years, Kudler Fine Foods has experienced tremendous growth in its market of operation and for this reason, the company wishes to develop an Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) plan with a view to increasing its customer base. In this case, ABC Consultants have considered various methods of market segmentation that have proven useful in designing an efficient marketing strategy.
Different market segments have different characteristics and as such, it is important to evaluate the quality, importance, and value of an individual market segment before choosing the most appropriate one (Kotler & Keller, 2006). Marketing research is more than just customer surveys; it involves a deep understanding of the psychographic and demographic data collected through primary methods of data collection. In addition, marketing research also involves evaluating data collected to generate useful information for use as a basis for improving existing strategies.
In order for Kudler Fine Foods to remain competitive, the company should consider including the findings of marketing research studies to its decision-making process. To do so, the company needs to consider consumers’ psychographics and demographics. Such an approach will minimize the number of irregularities that might emerge within the company and when Kudler Fine Foods is dealing with its competitors.
Information on consumer psychographics and demographics is very important to Kudler Fine Foods because, without it, the company would find it very hard to make informed decisions. For this reason, it is important that Kudler Fine Foods makes use of such demographic segmentation variables as social class and age to develop marketing strategies that target a wide range of consumers. This would enable the company to verify the kind of products that needs to be captured in its marketing and advertising campaigns. Demographics have proven to be a necessary factor in clarifying the kind of a consumer that a company should focus on (Peter, 2008). Armed with such information, Kudler Fine Foods can be able to make crucial marketing decisions.
Kudler Fine Foods has been designed as a local but expensive gourmet food store. As such, it would be most appealing to the upper social class. The location of the company in San Diego, California is also a strategic move because there are many upper-class citizens to be found here. When a company is buying media, it is important first to get acquainted with such consumer demographic variables as income.
The geographic location of the market is also important because you can have two groups characterized by the same demographics but with varying buying patterns. This may be the case because the two markets differ in terms of lifestyle and psychological composition. Consequently, this will have a huge impact on their inclination to buy a product.
Psychographic segmentation
In psychographic segmentation, customers are subdivided according to their lifestyles and preferences (Sheth-Voss & Carreras, 2010). It is important for Kudler Fine Foods to undertake a psychographic segmentation of its target market. This can be achieved by conducting surveys aimed at determining the interests, attitudes, values, activities, and opinions of the target market.
Psychographic segmentation also allows the marketer to obtain sociological and psychological information of the customer. Some of the attributes of psychological information worth of exploration include personalities, attitudes, and motivations (Sheth-Voss & Carreras, 2010). In this case, Kudler Fine Foods may decide to conduct a survey that examines the various consumer psychographics and consumer bases. The results of such a survey can then be used by the company to enhance specific consumer opinions, values, interest, and attitudes.
Different individuals are motivated by different issues. For example, whereas some individuals are motivated by principles and knowledge, others are motivated by achievements. In addition, there are also other individuals who are motivated by the need to display their success to others. Therefore, Kudler Fine Foods needs to undertake a market survey of the target market in order to identify the nature and personality of their target market.
Geographic segmentation
Geographic segmentation involves the division of a target market based on geographic criteria like cities, regions, or states (Kotler & Keller, 2006). By segmenting its market along geographical lines, Kudler Fine Foods can identify the regions where certain products are most popular and then position those products in that market. For this reason, the company should consider various geographic variables that have proven to be very useful in market segmentation. They include population density, region, climate, and the size of the target market. These variables will enable the company’s marketing department to choose the most suitable products for a given region.
Behavioral Segmentation
Behavioral segmentation focuses on the behavior of a customer towards a given product (Kotler & Keller 2006). Some of the important behavioristic variables that
Kudler Fine Foods could find useful include:
- The rate at which consumers use a given product
- The level of loyalty that consumers have attached to a certain product
- Consumers’ readiness to purchase a product
- How willing consumers are to buy a product
- Occasions when buyers are likely to buy a product that is, events that are likely to stimulate the need to purchase a product
Kudler Fine Foods can match the above behavioral segmentation variables that care closely linked to its products. Before deciding on a segmentation strategy decision, Kudler Fine Foods needs to consider three crucial criteria for a given viable segment. One of these criteria is measurability of a given segment.
Kudler Fine Food needs to ensure that its target market is measurable in terms of size and characteristics. In addition, Kudler Fine Foods should ensure that it’s market segment is meaningful. A segment should also be marketable (Peter, 2008). A segment that fulfills all the above three criteria is said to be viable. There is need therefore for Kudler Fine Foods to determine the viability of its market based on the above three criteria.
After determining the viability of the market, marketers at Kudler Fine Foods should then explore the marketing mix for its products. Kudler Fine Foods should first identify its target market and then develop the right marketing mix for the market. This will enable the company’s marketers to position the product appropriately. It is important however to note that product positioning will affect the choice of suitable promotional strategies and channels. As such, Kudler Fine Foods should make the most of its marketing mix decision with the target market in mind.
Reference List
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2006). Marketing Management. New York: Prentice Hall.
Peter, P. J. (2008). Consumer behaviour and marketing strategy. New York: McGraw Hill Companies.
Sheth-Voss, P., & Carreras, I. (2010). How informative is your segmentation? A simple new metric yields surprising results. Marketing Research, 8-13.