Behavioral segmentation: what is it, characteristics, types and functions

Companies do not simply offer their products and services. First of all, they carry out an important market study, finding out what their customers want, what their needs are, what they want ...

But not all clients are the same. What interests one person does not have to interest him at all. People have personality differences, and this is also manifested in our behavior as consumers.

But despite being different, there is always some feature that helps us group ourselves according to our interests with respect to a group or service, and this is taken into account by Business applying the behavioral segmentation strategy. Let's see what it is and what parameters can be taken into account when applying it.

• Related article: "Behaviorism: history, concepts and main authors"

What is behavioral segmentation?

Behavioral segmentation is a proper marketing technique (marketing) that aims to group consumers based on some of their characteristics that serves companies to be able to offer their services and products in a more personal way. By achieving this, the chances of attracting the attention of customers are increased, who acquire the product / service offered and, in addition, do it again in the future by becoming a customer habitual.

This technique is usually carried out by market researchers, who are responsible for observing aspects such as preparation when buying, the knowledge the customer has about the product or service, the level of loyalty, interactions with your brand, the use that is given to the product once acquired…

This process It can involve several phases in which the behavior of both regular and occasional customers is observed, studied and analyzed., tried with this data to predict the behavior of future consumers. Thus, the company is better prepared and can know a little better what to expect by knowing what the wishes and needs of customers are. As consumer behavior can change for any reason, behavioral segmentation is a process that is constantly applied.

Any company that knows what the purchasing, consumption and use habits of its regular customers are can extract very useful information. useful to achieve loyalty, that is, make them have an experience with that brand so positive that they choose to continue using her. For this reason, in a world as competitive as that of large companies, it is necessary to know what characteristics the target audience has and what to do to capture their attention.

• You may be interested in: "Behavioral contrast: what is it and how can it be used in psychology"

What does it imply in Psychology?

There are several aspects that characterize behavioral segmentation. One of them is that companies use this method in order to focus your efforts on the right audience, that is, those potential real consumers based on the buying behavior of customers who have already used your services and products, as well as taking into account their interests.

Behavioral segmentation allows identify similar behaviors among different consumers, which facilitates their grouping and offer them more personalized products and services, but not in one such a personalized way that it implies investing too much time and money in raising new options to bid. The idea is to offer products that are interesting to a wide range of people and that, if other people like another, present a suitable offer for them.

As people are grouped according to different parameters, this allows grouping in the same group people who have similar interests and behavioral patterns, leading to advertisements and offers of products. By knowing what they are like and what is the largest group or groups of people interested in a certain product or service, commercial decision-making is much easier, designing products and advertising services more in line with what consumers really want.

In order to predict the behavior of future customers, behavioral segmentation is based on the attitude history of your customers, both regular and sporadic. Based on the information they obtain from them, they can identify and influence purchasing decisions that may arise in the future.

• Related article: "The 15 types of research (and characteristics)"

Types of behavioral segmentation

As we have commented, the main objective of behavioral segmentation is to group consumers based on their characteristics in order to offer a service or product in a more efficient way. personal, making it more possible to attract their attention, to acquire that product / service offered and, also, to do it again in the future by becoming a customer habitual.

Behavioral segmentation varies depending on what is being observed at the time of market research. Next we will see a few types of segmentation based on different parameters taken into consideration:

1. Search for value

This type of segmentation focuses on how the customer investigates the product, identifying aspects such as its price, characteristics and durability and what are those that motivate you to buy it.

• You may be interested in: "The 12 psychological tricks supermarkets use to make you spend more money"

2. Use of the products

The use of products or services is another modality of behavioral segmentation, in which takes into account how often a customer buys or consumes what the company is interested in offering.

3. Seasons and events

Consumption is not the same or stable throughout the 365 days of the year. Key dates and seasons such as Christmas, summer break, the start of school and others are moments in which the behavior of consumers is triggered in the consumption of all kinds of elements.

There are other dates that are special for certain groups, such as LGTBI +, evidenced in the month of pride and how brands take advantage of their symbols. Also included are those of a personal nature, such as birthdays or anniversaries.

• Related article: "6 psychological tricks to resist the slope of January"

4. Loyalty level

Based on the data that can be extracted from the behavior of the customers, it can be segmented according to their level of loyalty. This allows the organization to identify its most loyal customers, understand what has made them continue to use your brand, understand what their needs are and plan strategies to ensure that they continue to be interested in your products and services in the future.

5. Personal interests

It is essential to take into account the personal interests of clients in order to provide individualized options. In this type of behavioral segmentation, the professional interests of each client are also taken into account.

• You may be interested in: "The 10 types of values: principles that govern our lives"

Advantages and disadvantages of behavioral segmentation

This technique has several benefits for all companies, although it also has certain drawbacks.

Advantage

The main and most important advantage of behavioral segmentation is that allows organizations to find customers with similar buying habits and behaviors, which makes it easier to reach them and offer them products and services. It also allows companies to know what the needs of consumers are, which will be taken as a criterion to modify and update the products and services offered.

By knowing what your customers want, you can offer them more personalized products and therefore increase the interest of your customers, both old and new. This makes it easy to build brand loyalty in the most like-minded customers.

Disadvantages

But although with several disadvantages, it should be mentioned that behavioral segmentation has several disadvantages.

The most notable is that consumers do not cease to be people and, as such, are free to change their behavior, with which it is really very difficult to predict with complete certainty what their wishes and interests will be in the future in the medium and long term. This can lead to the problem that an entire marketing strategy is ruined by the simple fact that the potential clients to whom they were directed change in tastes and interests.

Thus, this technique can only offer a frame of reference that is based on the personality and behavior of a group. of people, but it is not a guarantee that it will completely predict the personality of other groups in appearance Similar.