The costs and perils of over-targeting in today's markets

Author: Sinha Jay I.   Rosenthal Edward C.  

Publisher: Westburn Publishers Ltd

ISSN: 1469-347X

Source: The Marketing Review, Vol.9, Iss.3, 2009-08, pp. : 243-250

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

Standard marketing theory prescribes that businesses profit from targeting specific customer segments in their advertising. We show, however, that excessive targeting and segmentation can yield a number of unfavourable results. We illustrate how over-targeting might cause firms to forego significant social network effects. In addition, we point out that traditional segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies often are not well adapted to the increasingly powerful and abundant social networking and blogging sites. Moreover, over-targeting can lead to firms offering excessive product lines, and the ensuing proliferation of choices results in lower sales and customer satisfaction. Finally, over-targeting often carries with it the undesirable effects of intrusive "push" marketing.In light of these and other observations, we offer some prescriptions for managers, including how to structure the targeting and segmentation decision; letting customers customise the product line; and developing "pull" as opposed to "push" marketing techniques.