Segmentation Issues in Online Marketing

This paper examines the literature on the behaviour of various demographic segments towards the Internet as a marketing tool. It also takes a look at two new segmentation models proposed to online marketers that are different from conventional segmentation approaches. Typically marketing theorists used certain bases to break down the market place into manageable consumer structures using variables such as: Geography, Demography, Psychography, and Behaviour. The 'New Age' Internet Marketing theorists propose the use of certain Hybrid variables in dissecting the consumer market place. Two of these new segmentation concepts are highlighted, one by Mary Modhal that is titled 'Technographic Segmentation' and the other one by the research firm Keig & Company. The paper also reviews the changing demographic trends in Internet usage to search/shop for products. Research now indicates that the Internet is now a viable tool for many other demographic segments in the population, not just the\ud young male as the case was when it was first introduced to commercialisation. The changing demography has created enormous opportunities for marketers. The face of the Internet consumer is in for a radical makeover now in the present and the future. Hence this paper considers the changing 'human face' of the Internet consumer