Segment Profiles

What is a segment profile?

A segment profile is a detailed description of the market segment across a range of factors and measures. It is designed to provide the organization with a good understanding of consumers within each segment for comparison and strategy purposes.

In particular, a segment profile would outline important aspects of: consumer needs, consumer behavior, brand preferences, product usage levels, and so on. A segment profile would also provide a demographic and psychographic description of the segment, along with key measures of segment size and growth. An example of how to construct a segment profile is provided below as well.

 

Definition of a segment profile

Definitions of a segment profile are generally quite similar, as shown by the following two definitions:

  • “A [segment] profile might include information about lifestyle patterns, attitudes towards product attributes and brands, product-use habits, geographic locations, and demographic characteristics” (Kurtz, 2009).
  •  “A market segment profile describes the similarities among potential customers within a segment and explains the differences among people and organizations in different segments” (Pride & Ferrell, 2011).

 

When constructing segment profiles, we are attempting to describe the consumers in each of the segments with the purpose of understanding their needs, particularly in regards to how they are somewhat unique as compared to the other market segments identified. Therefore, a suitable definition of a segment profile for our purposes is:

  • A descriptive summary of the size, needs, behaviors and preferences of consumers within a particular market segment, with the goal of evaluating segment attractiveness and developing suitable marketing strategies.

 

What to review?

To better understand segment profiles, you should also review: