family purchasing behaviour?’ Individuals from the same household
may be in two completely different social classes.
● The variety and the changing nature of people’s occupations make it
increasingly difficult to apply social class categories consistently.
Most importantly in today’s society social class is a less important pre-
dictor of behaviour than other methods of segmentation. For instance, an
individual whatever their social class who is interested in sport is more
likely to buy products and services in the sporting area than an individual
in the same social class who is not interested in sport. It may, therefore, be
more important for marketers to identify individuals who share a com-
mon interest (i.e. sport) rather than identify social class groupings.64 Strategic Marketing: Planning and ControlIllustrative Example 4.2
Divine Chocolate Ltd
In 2006 the UK consumer spent £290 million on Fairtrade products, an increase of 46 per cent on
sales in 2005 which were themselves 40 per cent up on the year before. In 2007 more than 2500
products that carry the Fairtrade logo are on offer in the UK market. The market for Fairtrade
chocolate and cocoa products has also seen a huge growth in sales over the last 5 years. It is a mar-
ket segment within which Divine Chocolate Ltd has become a major player developing its own
Devine brand label. Divine Chocolate Ltd also supplies the Co-op with its own brand chocolate
and much of the company’s success is due to this relationship. The company’s sales were £9 mil-
lion in 2006 and this represents a very small percentage of the overall market chocolate market in
the UK. However, Divine Chocolate Ltd by focusing on this specialist market is able to operate in
a high growth segment with limited direct competition. This is also against the background of an
overall chocolate market that is maturing and showing signs of much lower levels of growth.
In October 2006 Divine Chocolate Ltd extended its operations by setting up a new American
operation based in Washington aimed at bringing Fairtrade chocolate to the US consumer.
Geographic segmentation
● Geographic: This variable was used more extensively in the past. There
used to be clear consumer patterns in product areas such as food and
alcohol across Europe, or even within a market such as the UK.
Although some of these patterns still show through, mass communica-
tion and wider access to travel has tended to erode these regional dif-
ferences. In the UK, individuals are eating a much more cosmopolitan
diet than 30 years ago. Pizzas and pasta dishes are common in many
homes. Where geographic variables are used, they tend to be used to
reflect some wider cultural differences between markets. However
geographic variables can be useful if they are used in conjunction with
other factors.
● Geodemographics: Geodemographic segmentation combines information
on household location with certain demographic and socio-economic data.