MARKETING

NKU Dining Services realized that customer segmentation would help them better serve their students, so it embarked on a program to isolate and understand different market segments. As a foundation for its research efforts, NKU dining started with secondary research from syndicated sources. It accessed the Student Monitor's Lifestyle and Media Survey, which identifies student trends and lifestyles. It also partnered with Claritas, which specializes in geodemographic segmentation. After gaining important insights from this research, they developed and administered questionnaires to thousands of students to learn more about their specific preferences in areas such as portion size, taste, brands, price, and dining atmosphere. From this combination of primary and secondary research, NKU Dining discovered the following about its student customers. One of the primary reasons the Sushi spot is popular is that students find it incredibly convenient to grab and go.

Of 529 surveyed respondents, 352 reported that they dine on campus either multiple times per day.

While 145 dine twice a week or less. 56 reported never having dined on campus.

Women are 4x more likely to prefer healthy choices than their male counterparts.

Those who live on campus prefer hearty meals with full menus, while those who live off campus tend to purchase snacks, drinks, or quick meals.

2% of respondents reported that they were too introverted to comfortably eat in the dining areas.

4% of respondents wanted NKU Dining to allow them to create their own menus for each meal they would eat on campus.

In addition, Claritas identified six unique segments: Metro Fusion, Main Streamers, Fun Express, Time Liners, Dream Catchers, and Trend Setters. Each segment has its own characteristics that influence consumers' preferences for menu items, specific brands, and meal times. Sodexho relies on this market information to customize the products and dining venues it offers to suit the specific tastes of different segments.

Still using the information from the first question, match the example from the left to the type of segmentation strategy on the right.

To reach each of the the six unique segments, NKU Dining is working on developing product offerings that meet the needs of each of these types of market segments.

[ Choose ] differentiated segmentation strategy concentrated segmentation micromarketing undifferentiated mass customization

If NKU Dining decided to allow every student to create their own menu

[ Choose ] differentiated segmentation strategy concentrated segmentation micromarketing undifferentiated mass customization

If NKU Dining had found that there was very little difference between student needs (the opposite of what they found) They might choose to build one large cafeteria and serve ONE common dish each day (much like in HS).

[ Choose ] differentiated segmentation strategy concentrated segmentation micromarketing undifferentiated mass customization