Publications

October 2012
Article

Target the Right Market

By: Jill Avery and Thomas Steenburgh

SparkPlace is a two-year-old business with a hot new product: software that manages and measures the effectiveness of permission-based marketing campaigns for social media. The company is in the process of deciding on which of two customer segments to focus its... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Market Segmentation; Customer Defection; Customer Lifetime Value; Customer Relationship Management; CRM; Market Segmentation And Target Market Selection; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Technology Industry; United States

March–April 2023
Article

Market Segmentation Trees

By: Ali Aouad, Adam Elmachtoub, Kris J. Ferreira and Ryan McNellis

Problem definition: We seek to provide an interpretable framework for segmenting users in a population for personalized decision making. Methodology/results: We propose a general methodology, market segmentation trees (MSTs), for learning market... View Details

Keywords: Decision Trees; Computational Advertising; Market Segmentation; Analytics and Data Science; E-commerce; Consumer Behavior; Marketplace Matching; Marketing Channels; Digital Marketing

January 2014 (Revised March 2014)
Teaching Note

Cancer Screening in Japan: Market Research and Segmentation

By: John A. Quelch

Keywords: Market Research; Market Segmentation; Health Care Industry; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Marketing Strategy; Health Industry; Public Administration Industry; Communications Industry; Japan

May 2018
Article

Selection and Market Reallocation: Productivity Gains from Multinational Production

By: Laura Alfaro and Maggie X. Chen

Assessing the productivity gains from multinational production has been a vital topic of economic research and policy debate. Positive aggregate productivity gains are often attributed to within-firm productivity improvement; however, an alternative, less emphasized... View Details

Keywords: Productivity Gains; Multinational Production; Selection; Market Reallocation; And Within-firm Productivity; Multinational Firms and Management; Production; Performance Productivity; Competition; Mathematical Methods

2020
Working Paper

Sex Selection and the Indian Marriage Market

By: Reshmaan N. Hussam

I consider the widespread phenomenon of sex ratios skewed by parental preference. Edlund (1999) proposes that if parents prefer sons and permit only women to marry up in social class, sexes will segregate by wealth in equilibrium. Using data on 30,000 Indian children,... View Details

Keywords: Sex Selection; Marriage Market; Bargaining Power; Gender; Information Technology; Household; Outcome or Result; India

September 2005 (Revised April 2006)
Background Note

Market Segmentation, Target Market Selection, and Positioning

By: Miklos Sarvary and Anita Elberse

Elaborates on the prerequisites for designing a successful marketing strategy: market segmentation, target market selection, and product positioning. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Markets

October 1978 (Revised March 1987)
Background Note

Note on Market Definition and Segmentation

Outlines the problems involved in defining "markets" for purposes of 1) developing competitive strategies, 2) measuring market share, and 3) evaluating the extent of competition. The primary focus is on strategic planning--specifically, the questions of delimiting the... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Markets; Segmentation

Article

Targeting Weather Insurance Markets

By: Anita Mukherjee, Shawn Cole and Jeremy Tobacman

The suitability of insurance products often depends greatly on individual circumstances. This paper examines the challenges of heterogeneity in a relatively new product, weather‐indexed insurance. This index insurance product has been launched in over a dozen... View Details

Keywords: Index Insurance; Labor Markets; Self-insurance; Self-protection; Weather; Insurance; Markets; Household; Risk Management

2023
Working Paper

Segmented Going-Public Markets and the Demand for SPACs

By: Angela Ma, Miles Zheng and Jessica Bai

We provide a regulatory-arbitrage-based explanation for the origin and proliferation of the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). SPAC sponsors act as non-bank intermediaries, and the SPAC market structure appeals to yield-seeking investors and riskier,... View Details

Keywords: Special Purpose Acquisition Companies; Non-bank Intermediaries; Regulatory Arbitrage; Adverse Selection; Initial Public Offering

SSRN

2010
Simulation

Marketing Simulation: Managing Segments and Customers

By: Das Narayandas

In this single-player simulation, students assume the position of CEO of a medical motor manufacturer and are tasked with executing a successful business-to-business marketing strategy over a period of twelve fiscal quarters. Students determine all aspects of the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Salesforce Management; Distribution Channels; Price; Product Positioning; Customer Relationship Management; Profit; Revenue; Cost vs Benefits; Policy; Manufacturing Industry

October 1978
Background Note

A Note on Consumer Market Segmentation

Introductory note on the concept of market segmentation and its processes. View Details

Keywords: Markets; Segmentation

July 2012
Article

The Real Consequences of Market Segmentation

By: Sergey Chernenko and Adi Sunderam

We study the real effects of market segmentation due to credit ratings using a matched sample of firms just above and just below the investment-grade cutoff. These firms have similar observables, including average investment rates. However, flows into high-yield mutual... View Details

Keywords: Segmentation; Credit; Investment; Investment Funds; Quality; Markets; Measurement and Metrics; Business Ventures

July 2007
Article

Geographical Segmentation of U.S. Capital Markets

Demographic variation in savings behavior can be exploited to provide evidence on segmentation in US bank loan markets. Cities with a large fraction of seniors have higher volumes of bank deposits. Since many banks rely heavily on deposit financing, this affects local... View Details

Keywords: Age; Economy; Capital Markets; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Local Range; United States

January 2014 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Cancer Screening in Japan: Market Research and Segmentation

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

Since founding CancerScan in 2008, Jun Fukuyoshi and Yoshiki Ishikawa had helped to improve cancer screening rates in Japan. Between 2005 and 2007, awareness of breast cancer in Japan rose from 55% to 70%, but the incidence of breast cancer screenings remained... View Details

Keywords: Cancer; Public Health Projects; Japan; Japan

September 2018
Article

Asset Price Dynamics in Partially Segmented Markets

By: Robin Greenwood, Samuel G. Hanson and Gordon Y. Liao

We develop a model in which capital moves quickly within an asset class but slowly between asset classes. While most investors specialize in a single asset class, a handful of generalists can gradually reallocate capital across markets. Upon the arrival... View Details

Keywords: System Shocks; Asset Pricing

2020
Working Paper

Targeting for Long-Term Outcomes

By: Jeremy Yang, Dean Eckles, Paramveer Dhillon and Sinan Aral

Decision makers often want to target interventions so as to maximize an outcome that is observed only in the long term. This typically requires delaying decisions until the outcome is observed or relying on simple short-term proxies for the long-term outcome. Here we... View Details

Keywords: Targeted Marketing; Optimization; Churn Management; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Policy; Learning; Outcome or Result

March 1982 (Revised April 1989)
Background Note

Industrial Market Selection and Product Planning

March 1981 (Revised November 1984)
Background Note

Market Selection and Direction: Role of Product Portfolio Planning

Discusses alternative approaches to product portfolio planning, including those of the Boston Consulting Group, General Electric/McKinsey, and the PIMS Program. Examines how portfolio planning can be used in the processes of market selection and setting of business... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing