Instead, it is a craft that requires experience and sound judgement to result in a meaningful solution. A variety of statistical tools are employed, including factor analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant analysis. While a scheme for segmenting a market is initially developed from a specific survey or database, it is possible to continually reclassify consumers in subsequent research studies using a concise set of core questions. Segmentation is a versatile tool that can answer many questions marketers have about a current or emerging market. Depending on the goals of the study, a researcher can segment a market based on a variety of variables including attitudes, needs, demographics, and social and economic variables.
Segmentation is a complex tool to implement but yields rich results for marketing managers.