RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Methodological and Strategy Development Implications of Decision Segmentation
JF Journal of Advertising Research
JO J Advert Res
FD WARC
SP 445
OP 461
DO 10.2501/S0021849906060405
VO 46
IS 4
A1 Thomas J. Reynolds
YR 2006
UL http://www.journalofadvertisingresearch.com/content/46/4/445.abstract
AB The goal of customer segmentation, the cornerstone of strategy development, is to identify homogeneous groups of customers that will respond in a consistent way to changes in the marketing mix. Interpretation of traditional quantitative segmentation approaches requires an inferential leap as to the underlying decision processes of each segment. Means-end research methodologies address this problem by providing a framework to understand customer decision making that can be directly translated into the specification of positioning strategy that is more personally relevant to a given target consumer group. The quantitative marketing research orientation to means-end research is contrasted to a more qualitative, consumer-decision research perspective. A new methodological procedure that addresses the shortcomings in previous analysis methods to produce decision segments is presented.