Question-8 Market segmentation is the process of identifying key groups or segments within the general market that share

specific characteristics and consumer habits. Once the market is broken into segments, companies can develop advertising programs for each segment, focus advertising on one or two segments or niches, or develop new products to appeal to one or more of the segments. Companies often favor this method of marketing to the one-size-fits-all mass marketing approach, because it allows them to target specific groups that might not be reached by mass marketing programs. To identify segments, marketers examine consumers' interests, tastes, preferences, and socioeconomic characteristics in order to determine their patterns of consumption and how they will respond to various marketing strategies. The primary information marketers seek is why consumers purchase specific products or services but not others. Catalog retailers and directmarketing firms make up some of the key users of market segmentation, although many other kinds of companies and organizations use this technique.

Read more: Market Segmentation - benefits, expenses http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Man-Mix/MarketSegmentation.html#ixzz1K38ag3YE

Question-9

Market segmentation is a concept in economics and marketing. A market segment is a sub-set of a market made up of people or organizations with one or more characteristics that cause them to demand similar product and/or services based on qualities of those products such as price or function. A true market segment meets all of the following criteria: it is distinct from other segments (different segments have different needs), it is homogeneous within the segment (exhibits common needs); it responds similarly to a market stimulus, and it can be reached by a market intervention. The term is also used when consumers with identical product and/or service needs are divided up into groups so they can be charged different amounts.The people in a given segment are supposed to be similar in terms of criteria by which they are segmented and different from other segments in terms of these criteria. These can broadly be viewed as 'positive' and 'negative' applications of the same idea, splitting up the market into smaller groups. Examples:
y y y

Gender Price Interests

While there may be theoretically 'ideal' market segments, in reality every organization engaged in a market will develop different ways of imagining market segments, and create Product

differentiation strategies to exploit these segments. The market segmentation and corresponding product differentiation strategy can give a firm a temporary commercial advantage.
Question-----10

This article needs attention from an expert on the subject. See the talk page for details. WikiProject Psychology or the Psychology Portal may be able to help recruit an expert.
(October 2008)

The acronym VALS, (for "Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles") is a psychographic segmentation. It was developed in 1970s and inaugurated in 1978 by Arnold Mitchell at SRI International. VALS places U.S. adult consumers into one of eight segments based on their responses to the VALS questionnaire. The main dimensions of the segmentation framework are primary motivation (the horizontal dimension) and resources (the vertical dimension). The VALS approach is derived from a theoretical base in Maslow's work (1954). It has since been reworked to enhance its ability to predict consumer behavior. Segmentation research based on VALS is a product of SRI Consulting Business Intelligence. According to the VALS Framework, groups of people are arranged in a rectangle and are based on two dimensions. The vertical dimension segments people based on the degree to which they are innovative and have resources such as income, education, self-confidence, intelligence, leadership skills, and energy. The horizontal dimension represents primary motivations and includes three distinct types: Consumers driven by knowledge and principles are motivated primarily by ideals. These consumers include groups called Thinkers and Believers. Consumers driven by demonstrating success to their peers are motivated primarily by achievement. These consumers include groups referred to as Achievers and Strivers. Consumers driven by a desire for social or physical activity, variety, and risk taking are motivated primarily by self-expression. These consumers include the groups known as Experiencers and Makers. At the top of the rectangle are the Innovators, who have such high resources that they could have any of the three primary motivations. At the bottom of the rectangle are the Survivors, who live complacently and within their means without a strong primary motivation of the types listed above. The VALS Framework gives more details about each of the eight groups. Question----6
Retailer Positioning: Strategy is in Detail Positioning in retail is the basis of how one store competes with another retail store; it starts by defining target consumers in terms of distinctive needs, and ends when unique set of executable action steps are identified to achieve an identity in the minds of customers, an identity that customers experience in the store and distinguish in their minds. A retail identity could be like Wal-Marts Every Day Low Price (note not the lowest price) or Whole Food Supermarkets (the fastest growing grocer in USA) Worlds Leading Natural and Organic Foods Supermarket. I am a believer that

positioning is best based upon value provided to customers and not on price. Price is a positioning option only and only if a retailer has an innovative approach to being the lowest cost operator. Wal-Marts pricing is based upon the competitive landscape. Where it has head-to-head competition in geographic proximity, it avoids price discounting versus competition, a potentially mutually destructive strategy. But where it has low competition, pricing often is above average. And where it has somewhat distant competition, it discounts to attract consumers within the proximate geography. Note, however, that it defines competition very carefully K-Mart or Target. Wal-Mart is always cheaper than the traditional supermarkets, an option it can exercise based upon its low-cost structure.

QUESTION----7

Consumer Products
Right product at the right place, with the right price and at the right time is the number one business imperative of all consumer products companies. As markets become more complex and consumers become more demanding, marketing consumer products needs to go through a sea change. With this paradigm change, the need of the hour is to bring in processes and systems that are able to handle all the emerging challenges and also exploit market opportunities as they come up. This includes being able to act rapidly on strategic initiatives that are often driven by changing consumer, shopper, customer, supply chain and technology demands and their potential impact on profitability and growth.
Client Challenges
y y y y y y y

Decline in returns on Trade Spending Demand for rapid innovation and coordinated product introduction Profit Pressure due to rising input costs Concern about Food Safety and Traceability Growing demands on business value delivery from IT Appropriate retail execution models for emerging markets Increased retailer power and proliferation of private labels

What TCS Provides

TCS offers a wealth of experience and high-level expertise in the Consumer Products space. The team is focused on delivering business solutions in the areas of CRM, Supply Chain Management, Retail Collaboration, Marketing and Sales Analytics, Product and Master Data Management, New Product Development and Introductions. TCS solutions cater to the entire value chain including the following:
y

Food and Beverage

y y y

Household and Personal Care Apparel and Footwear Consumer Electronics

Business Value