Market Segmenting, Targeting, and Positioning

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Think about some of your friends and what you have discovered by visiting their homes. Do they buy different things than you do? If so, why? How might a company distinguish you from them in terms of its targeting?
2. Staples and The Limited have attempted to thwart shoppers who abuse store return policies. When a customer returns items, store clerks swipe the customer's driver's license through electronic card readers that track buying and return patterns for any suspicious activity.Liz Pulliam Weston, "The Basics: Are You a Bad Customer?" MSN Money. What drawbacks do you think such a strategy could have?
3. Is it always harder to find new customers than it is to retain old ones or does it depend on the business you're in?
4. Does one-to-one marketing have to be expensive? How can small organizations interact with their customers in a cost-effective way?
5. Are large companies better off using multisegment strategies and small companies better off using niche strategies? Why or why not?
6. How have companies such as JCPenney and Sears tried to change their position (reposition their stores)?
7. Do you think hotel companies have segmented the market too much and confused customers?