discussion

 

Will COVID-19 Evolve Our Market Segmentation?

The COVID-19 virus has impacted businesses in many different ways. Marketers are having to rethink how they do certain things; and since the virus and related economic challenges are ongoing, they are having to rethink their approaches on the fly.

For this week’s discussion, think about the four primary segmentation categories:

• Geographic
• Demographic
• Psychographic
• Behavioral

Discuss how the impact of COVID-19 might prompt a marketer to rethink or adapt one or more of these segmentation categories (or if it’s still too soon, something they should watch carefully).

Here are a few examples or thought starters:

• Because of sheltering in place, the media has discussed that businesses might rethink having large office complexes (or any at all) and remote working may grow. In addition, some people are questioning why they need live in a big city. Does this prompt marketers to make some adaptions to the way they think about the geographic category?
• There are demographic segmentation groups such as baby boomers and millennial, which are based on the cohort effect of people sharing a significant experience during their formative years. Is COVID-19 significant enough to result in a new demographic segment (think of the high school seniors that missed much of their last semester of high school and the unknowns of how college will be; not to mention the ongoing economic impact a young person perceives).
• COVID-19 has definitely had an impact on people’s attitudes and behaviors; what are some of these changes and does a marketer need to adapt the psychographic and behavioral segment categories?

This is a discussion on how you think any of these segmentation categories may shift or evolve. I don’t expect you to have a full solution; just provide your thoughts on what key elements or characteristics within any given segment a marketer should keep their eye on.