Question

Discussion question:

What kind of effects does social media have on consumer behavior when you are segmenting the market?

Answer 1

With the advent of new technologies and advancements in the media and communication, the online social media networks has proven its ability to engage with the individuals interactively in real-time. All thanks to mobile and transient social media. Also, as result of the web and social media, consumers are much more informed and influenced. Let's take an example of Tripadviser, where the consumers have an access to greater choice and their smartphones are doing all of this for them wherever they are.

Grouping people into segments by geography, age, gender, profession and income and assuming they will never change is not a great way to relate to online audiences. Simply put, classifying people by their attitude and behaviour will ensure that the consumer behavior and market segmentation will emphasize on the possibility to gain deeper insights towards a product or service, whether it is positive, negative or neutral.

It is said that about 10% of social network users generate 90% of the content. These are referred to as ‘Creators’ or ‘e-Influencers’. In fact they are bloggers. These people are highly influential and could be classified as a new market segment. Segmentation strategies are in fact becoming increasingly important, so as to ensure that the social media marketing team is fully trained on the concept and working hand-in-hand with the customer insight, consumer choices or market segmentation.