MRKT 310

Text "Market Segmenting, Targeting, and Positioning" was derived from Principles of Marketing, which was adapted by the Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 3.0 Unported license without attribution as requested by the work's original creator or licensee. 2015, The Saylor Foundation.

Consumer Behavior, Market Segmentation & Positioning

Learning Outcomes

1.Consumer decision-making process.Individuals can identify how marketing strategy can influence each of the steps in the consumer decision-making process.

2.Segmentation.Individuals can use the segmentation characteristics to identify and describe market segments.

3.Target market & strategy.Individuals can identify a usable market segment to be a target market and determine an appropriate target-market strategy

4.Positioning.Individuals can develop a practitioner's positioning statement and relate it to a perceptual map.

Directions

Use Lyft as your product or Service for this paper. This week take a closer look at what consumer factors may be relevant for customers who are considering buying your product or service offering.This will require some critical thinking on your part based on your own behavior if you are a customer yourself, or you may want to research others who have purchased the product.Sometimes you can find clues when looking at the marketing messages that may be addressing some of these factors. More importantly, there is always information available in the research.

So far, you have only been considering the customers of your product or service as one big group, or a mass market.More astute marketing breaks down this large group into smaller market segments of consumers who have similar characteristics.For any specific product or service, there could be numerous market segments.However, company resources may only allow a company to pursue one or two or these market segments, which then become target market(s).In this write up, individuals should divide the mass market for the product or service into at least two market segments and then pick one target market which they think would have the most potential for future growth.

Think outside your own box.Chances Lyft is a product with which you are familiar with. That is a good starting point, and you may represent one target market.But you may represent a target market that is saturated and therefore not the best target market to pick for the remainder of the semester.So be sure your second target market is different enough and represents growth potential.

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We understand you are not an employee of the company and do not have access to the insider data that you feel will allow you to discuss the questions to the degree you would like.Take your best educated and reasoned guesses whenever you need to do so, but please substantiate your thoughts with cited data when available.

Individuals job will be to critically examine all of the segmentation bases and arrive at own description of potential market segments for Lyft.

.Now Respond to each of the following questions (two in part 1 and two in part 2) in order and number the beginning of your response to each question.Do not repeat the question.Do use headings to separate the sections.

Part 1

1.Consumer decision-making process.Go through the six steps of the purchase process outlined in the readings and identify where marketing can influence each of the six steps.For example, if a consumer just identified a need for your product in step one, then the company can advertise how your product fills that need.Or, if a consumer purchased your product, the consumer can be called and asked about their satisfaction with the product and if there are any dissatisfaction steps can be taken to ensure the customer satisfaction.Be sure to be more specific with respect to your product or service than this example.

2.Segmentation.Using the various criteria of the segmentation bases described in Table 4.1 in the Principles of Marketing adapted by the Saylor Foundation, identify at least two distinct market segments for your product or service.Each market segment description must include at leastthree (more if needed)of the characteristics from amongst any of the four bases categories, e.g. one from demographic variables, one or two from psychographic variables, and one from behavioral variables, or a similar scheme.Be sure to explain your choices based on what customer need the product or service offering can fill for each segment.

Part 2

1.Target market & strategy.Use one of the market segments you described in your segmentation response as the one you believe is or can be the most profitable for the product or service offering and explain why you feel they can represent growth for the company.Refer to the six criteria for an attractive market segment as in Principles of Marketing under 'Selecting Target Markets'.Name your target market so you can use this name subsequently.The name should be descriptive of the segments' characteristics like 'savvy young shoppers' or 'educated baby boomers', or 'urban hipsters', or the like.The goal is for your faculty member to get a mental image of your target market for the remainder of the semester. Should the company focus all their resources on this new target market (concentrated marketing) or should they continue to pursue both the new and the existing target market as well as other market segments (multi-segment marketing)?Alternatively, is the market so saturated might they be more successful by focusing solely on an even more narrow market segment, perhaps an even narrower version (niche marketing) of your selected target market, as their best chance for growth?What is your reasoning?

2.Positioning.Develop a Practitioner's Positioning Statement as demonstrated in Principles of Marketing. Make sure that the positioning statement includes a target market with clear demographics and what they are looking for; a description of the product or service, and a point of difference vs. the direct competition that will ensure there is uncontested space on a perceptual map.(i.e.something the product or service can own and communicate to customers that differentiatesit from the competition.)