by: Dick Stroud
There is an article in the Telegraph about market segmentation from the viewpoint of a professor of psychology. It makes some good points and also illustrates a mega danger – stereotyping.
The author asks: why not segment by political values or religion or sexual orientation or any other variable that comes to mind. Good questions.
The answer is that you should BUT make sure these factors really influence consumer behaviour AND influence it in a way that is established by research not hunch.
I suspect (hope) that he was joking when he differentiated Old vs New Labour on the basis of their culinary tastes: “Remember, Old Labour like mushy peas, while New Labour eat guacamole”.
Unfortunately, too many marketers really think this way and allow their personal prejudices and opinions to drive their vision of consumers.
Original post: http://www.20plus30.com/blog/2007/06/beware-stereotyping.html
