Market segment
Market segment ( english market segment ) is in the microeconomics of the portion of a relevant market on which a specific product group or type of service offered is and to certain customer groups and customer types with homogeneous needs as demand meets.
General
A market segment is the result of a market segmentation that divides an overall market into strategic business areas. This first requires the collection of market data and market development in order to determine the attractiveness of a certain market segment. The term market segment is not used consistently in the specialist literature . Some authors understand this only to be the demand side of a market, while the term “sub-market” describes the product and / or supply-oriented sub-area. Since a market consists of supply and demand and decisions with regard to a product and its buyer are not made independently of one another, segmentation affects the entire sub-market. For example, on the automotive market there is, among other things, the sports car market segment , which is only in demand by a certain target group . Product and customer groups can therefore not be separated from one another.
species
Market segments are formed according to certain market characteristics that have to be identified through a previous market analysis . The following criteria are possible for segmentation :
- geographical criteria : state , region , climate , language ;
- demographic criteria : age , male or female gender , income , nationality , education , occupation or religion ;
- social-psychological criteria : lifestyle , temperament , social class , values or
- behavior-related criteria : leisure time , eating and drinking habits , buying behavior , price awareness or brand loyalty .
With the niche strategy , a company focuses on a certain market segment that competitors do not work at all or only marginally.
purpose
Market segments are used to enable a company to concentrate on a certain sub-market and to focus its products, marketing strategies and advertising on this sub-market. In the market segment, the companies deal with customers and customer benefits , evaluate the segmentation criteria and align their production accordingly. The market segment thus serves to achieve competitive advantages , positioning and is geared towards customer loyalty . Ultimately, the correct marketing of a market segment can also achieve or strengthen the objective of profit maximization . In the annual financial statements , certain legal forms must present the market segments served in more detail as part of segment reporting.
Stock exchange
In the language of the stock market, market or stock exchange segment means a sub-area in which the traded securities have to meet certain admission and transparency requirements and follow-up obligations. Common in all is the EU Member States between the " regulated market " ( English regulated market ) and the "exchange-regulated market" ( English regulated unofficial market ) to distinguish. While the “regulated market” is monitored by the European Union , the “exchange-regulated market” is regulated by the respective stock exchange . The previous German stock exchange segments “ official market ” and “ regulated market ” were transferred to the “regulated market” in November 2007. He puts on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with the segments "General Standard" and "Prime Standard" constructive retail segments with higher transparency standards. Segment "exchange-regulated market" on the Frankfurt stock exchange in the open market ( English open market ). According to § 42 BörsG , the stock exchange regulations for sub-areas of the regulated market can, in addition to the documents to be submitted by the company, additional requirements for the admission of shares or certificates representing shares and further information obligations of the issuer due to the admission of shares or certificates representing shares to protect the public or provide for orderly exchange trading. Another segment of the stock exchange is the primary and secondary market .
literature
- Philip Kotler , Friedhelm Bliemel : Marketing Management . 12th edition; Pearson Verlag, Munich, 2007; ISBN 978-3-8273-7229-1
- Armin Seiler: Marketing . 9th edition; Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich, 2008; ISBN 978-3-280-02644-1
Individual evidence
- ^ Richard Köhler : Contributions to Marketing Management: Planning - Organization - Controlling , 1993, p. 28.
- ↑ Christoph Portmann: Sales planning , 2008, p. 14.
- ↑ Bastian Staub: Decision-oriented market segment assessment with the real options approach , 2009, p. 19 ff.
- ↑ Clarisse Pifko, Marcel Reber, Rita-Maria Züger: Business Administration for Technical Businesspeople and HWD , 2012, p. 32.
