Market Segmentation in Apple Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Market Segmentation in Apple - Dissertation Example â€Å"An example of one product and multiple segments would be Apple’s iPod which was produced and targeted towards different demographic segments including male and females, different age levels and different income levels† (Elements of a Successful Business Plan: Market Segmentation n.d., p. 5). 2. Aim of the Research The aim of the research is to: Investigate the marketing segmentation strategies in Apple (UK). â€Å"Market segmentation is important as it helps the firms to get customer focused† (Saxena 2009, p. 212). It is necessary to investigate the market segmentation strategies of a firm in order to understand its market strategies and to strengthen its products in the market. 3. Literature Review: Market segmentation is a strategy in marketing and economics. â€Å"Apple exemplifies the marketing concept in every aspect of its business† (Boone & Kurtz p. 11). Market segment is a division of a market made up of organizations or people with one or more features that reason them to demand similar product and services based on character of those products such as functions or price. â€Å"Demographic differences have been widely used as bases for segmenting consumer markets† (Croft 1994, p. 24). According to Michael J Baker and Michael Saren in their book, â€Å"Marketing Theory: A Student Text,† market segmentation is essential to strategic marketing. Segmentation outcome is an improved, developed consideration of consumer’s behaviors, similarities and differences, and so directs the growth of marketing programmes and propositions. So as to make informed decisions regarding which parts to target, managers require to identify key marketing environment trends and drivers, competitor’s plans and capabilities, internal capital and capabilities, and probable matching with corporate plan. The procedure of undertaking market segmentation, so, acts as a catalyst to attaining such insights. â€Å"The resulting decisions about resource allocation and marketing programmes are likely to be much better directed as a consequence of the segmentation study† (Baker & Saren 2010). Kotler, in his work, â€Å"Framework for Marketing Management, 3/E† says that apple’s markets know that customers associate the brand with user friendly functionality, innovative technology and sleek design. Therefore, every Apple products, IPod players, Macintosh desktop and laptop computers and even the online ITunes store and tiger software are consistent with this image and delivers the kind of experience those customers expect from the brand. â€Å"Good marketing is no accident, but a result of careful planning and execution, as the Apple computer example shows† (Kotler & Keller 2007). According to Benjamin Bach, in his book called, â€Å"Implications of Enabling Technologies for Apple Inc.: Cyber Marketing,† Apple Inc distributes technological innovations and new products to the market, their targeting, e- marketing segmentation and positioning strategies be different from customary marketing methods in terms of a better segmentation for the reason that customer behavior can be tracked quicker, be easily understood and therefore, f urther sufficiently recognized and lastly targeted. â€Å"Hence, marketing strategies can be faster adapted and updated through the increased speed of information gathering processes from applying technology† (Bach 2007, p. 14). 4) Research strategy and methodology 4.1) Research Question: The research question is to: