Week 7 Reading Reflection

Week 7 Reading Reflection

As a marketing major, I found the premise of the entire article to be very interesting. Rather than going after typical targeted segments like age, income, or residence, Daniel Yankelovich transitioned to find a way to segment groups based on more non-demographic criteria. I think that it is incredibly important for a marketer to find a very specific group of people to sell a product to if they want to survive in a market for the long haul.

I found the “gravity of decision spectrum” to be interesting, but also a bit confusing. I would love if the author went into more detail about how an individual is placed on a spectrum and how the spectrum can be applied to the field of marketing. Does every individual fit the mold and have a place on the spectrum? Or do some not fit in to the spectrum?

If I could ask the author a question, I would want to know, was there a specific reason that Yankelovich decided to go after different segments? What made him think that there might be something more to preferences than simply one’s family income or age group? It seems like such an obvious statement when put simply, but what made him decide that his idea might work? I would also want to ask the author why no one else had decided to try Yankelovich’s idea before.

I think that everything the author writes about is pretty spot on with concerns to segmented marketing. He understands and pushes that both demographic and non-demographic criteria can build important segments. They both are equally important when determining who a product should be directed towards.

Megan