Question

Analyze and describe what you would expect the target market to be for a single seat hybrid automobile that gets 120 miles per gallon according to the demographic, psychographic, and behavioral segments. Consider such factors as gender, age, marital status, occupation, household size, household income, interests, and beliefs about global warming, gasoline prices, and the like. How might you determine this?

Answer 1

Introduction

Over the years, numerous economies across the globe have started spending their resources on creating renewable technology and promoting it in such a manner that it goes beyond conventional automobile at some stage.

This has primarily been because of the impact of petroleum imports on the economics of many nations which do not have oil reserves and are thus dependent on producing countries. Due to lack of production, the countries then end up importing tons of oil which depletes their currency and leads to fiscal deficit.

Due to this reason, countries have started subsidizing programs which promote hybrid models of vehicles or those that are completely reliant on renewable sources of energy.

Case Specifics:-

To reduce their overall costs and to stay in sync with what the government is trying to achieve for the environment, many people across the globe have been raising awareness about hybrid vehicles and using it themselves as an alternative mode of transport. These may be more fuel efficient but their initial costs of purchase is relatively higher for which understanding the target market is essential for a firm’s survival and profits.

Demographics:-

Demographics include traits such as gender, household income, area where people live, ethnicity etc. The product in our case can and should only be targeted in areas where there is a lack of petroleum products and the household income is relatively in the middle class segment range.

Such people pay due attention to the rising costs of fuel and are more likely to purchase the products than rich people who can afford paying premiums on fuel or low income group which might not be able to purchase the vehicle altogether.

Further, as part of the target market strategy, in terms of gender males would prefer such vehicles since the concept has not been liked by women across different countries as it tends to be more complex.

The age segmentation can be such that one can target people between the ages of 20-30. This is because in the age group of 30 and above people would prefer to have vehicles which have more than a single seat. Their occupation could be working professionals, since they tend to be more active on saving money every month which this vehicle will allow for them.

Also, in countries where petroleum is locally available example the Middle East, the strategy should be avoided.

Psychographic, and Behavioral segments:-

This type of segmentation basically reflects upon the thought process of the consumer while making the purchase decision. Over the years, prices of fuel have largely effected countries with lower reserves. The middle class segment which has just started to work have high stress on saving money.

Thus, men who perceive their cost of transport to be an important element would require to be actively targeted as part of the strategy for the firm. Further, those exhibiting strong behavior about global warming and its impact on the society can also be targeted to allow for the firm to function smoothly.

Conclusion:-

One can thus conclude that for maintaining equilibrium in the society and looking at the price trends of fuel, the solution going forward would be hybrid vehicles.

In this case, those people can be targeted which have a relatively higher interest in saving money because of the rising prices of fuel in countries with low or no self-production and can be used as an active tool to allow people long term savings over the years.

Please feel free to ask your doubts in the comments section if any.