Implementation problems in industrial market segmentation

Abstract

Marketing theory suggests that market segmentation offers a range of benefits to industrial and consumer marketers alike. Experience in industrial markets, however, while supporting these suppositions, highlights the considerable practical problems that can be faced by companies attempting to put market segmentation into practice. This paper reviews the industrial segmentation literature and considers a mix of qualitative and quantitative evidence from the European construction and agricultural markets and the UK aftermarket for car parts, making recommendations about the application of theoretical segmentation principles in practice.