38 CHAPTER 2 UNDERSTANDINGANDAPPROACHINGTHEMARKET
whosechildrenhavemovedout.Ina similarway,thetypesofproductspurchasedbyanewly
marriedcouple willdifferfromthoseofacouplewitholderchildren.^7
Incomeis perhapsthemost commondemographicoasisforsegmentinga market.This
maybepartlybecauseincomeoftendictateswhocanorcannotafforda particularprod-
uct.Itis quitereasonable,forexample,toassumethatindividualsearningminimumwage
couldnoteasilypurchasea $25,000sportscar.Incometendsto bea betterbasis forseg-
mentingmarketsasthe pricetagfora productin creases.Incomemaynotbequiteasvalu-
ableforproducts suchasbread,cigarettes, andmotoroil.Incomemayalsobehelpfulin
examiningcertaintypesofbuyingbehavior.Forexample, in dividualsinthelower-middle
income grouparepronetousecoupons.Playboyrecentlyannouncedtheintroductionofa
sp ecialeditionaimedatth e subscribers withannual incomes over$45,000.
Severalotherdemographiccharacteristicscaninfluencevarioustype~ofconsumer
activities.Education,forexample, affectsproduct preferencesas wellascharacteristics
demandedforcertainproducts.Occupationcanalsobeimportant.Individualswhowork
inhard physicallaboroccupations(e.g.,coalmining)maydemandanentirelydifferentset
ofproducts thana personemployedasa teacherorbankteller,eventhoughtheirincomes
arethesame.Geographicmobilityissomewhatrelatedtooccupation,inth at certainoccu-
pations(e.g., military, corporateexecutives)require a highlevelofmobility.Highgeographic
mobilitynecessitatesthata person(orfamily)acquire newshoppinghabits,seeknewsources
ofproductsand services,andpossibly developnewbrand preferences. Finally,raceand
nationaloriginhavebeenassociatedwithproduct preferencesandmediapreferences.Black
Americanshaveexhibitedpreferencesinrespecttofood,transportation,and entenainment,
tonameafew.Hispanicstendtopreferradioandtele vision overnewspapersandmaga-
zi nesasa meansforlearningabout products. The followingIntegratedMarketingboxdis-
cusseshowrace maybeanoverlookedsegment.^8.^9
Evenreligionisusedasa basi s forsegmentation.Severalinterestingfindingshave
arisenfromthelimitedresearchinthisarea.Asidefromtheobvioushigherdemandsfor
Christian-orientedmagazines,books,music,entertainment,jewelry,educationalinstitutions,
andcounselingservices,differencesindemandforsecularproductsandserviceshavebeen
identifiedaswell.Forexample, theChristianconsumer attendsmovieslessfrequentlythan
consumersingeneral andspends moretimeinvolunteer, evennon-chu:ch-related,activities.
Notwiths tanding itsapparentadvanLage~(i.e.,lowcost andeaseofimplementation),
considerable uncertainty·~xistsaboutdemographicsegmentation. Themethodisoftenmis-
used. Atypicalmisuseoftheapproachhas beentoconstruct"profiles"ofproductusers.
Forexample,it might besaid thatthetypicalconsumerofMexicanfoodis under 35 years
ofage,hasa collegeeducation,earnsmorethan$10,000a year,livesinaSUburbanfringe
ofa moderate-sizeurbancommunity,andresidesintheWest.True,thesecharacteristics
dodescribea typicalconsumerofMexicanfood,buttheyalsodescribea lotofothercon-
sumersaswell,andmaypaintaninaccurateportraitofmanyotherconsumers.
UsageSegments In1964,Twedtmadeoneoftheearliestdeparturesfromdemo-
graphicsegmentationwhenhesuggestedthattheheavyuser,orfrequentconsumer,was
an importantbasisforsegmentation.Heproposedthatconsumptionshouldbemeasured
directly,andthatpromotionshould beaimeddirectlyat theheavyuser.Thisapproachhas
becomeverypopular, particularl y inthebeveragein dustry(e.g beer,softdrinks,andspir-
its).Considerableresearchhasbeenconductedwiththisparticulargroup andtheresults
suggest thatfindingothercharacteristicsthat correlatewithusagerateoftengreatlyenhances
marketingefforts.lo
Fourotherbasesformarketsegmentationhaveevolvedfromtheusage-levelcriteria.
Thefirstispurchaseoccasion.Determiningthereasonforanairlinepassenger'strip,for
