Rural Market Segmentation

Rural market segmentation is the process of dividing a potential rural market into distinct sub
markets of consumers with common needs and characteristics.
Rural market segmentation is the starting step in applying the rural marketing strategy.
The basic problem in segmenting the rural market is the heterogeneous nature of the market.
In spite of there being heterogeneous market, the buyer of any product can be divided into
homogeneous groups of segments on the basis of their common needs, habits, preferences etc.

Definition :

Rural market segmentation is the process of dividing a potential rural market into distinct sub
markets of consumers with common needs and characteristics. Rural market segmentation is the
starting step in applying the rural marketing strategy. Once, segmentation takes place, the marketer
targets the identified customer groups with proper marketing mix, so as to position the
product/brand of company as perceived by the target segments.
Market segmentation is a method for achieving maximum market response from limited marketing
resources by recognizing differences in the response characteristics of various parts of the market.
It is one of the most interesting and an effective tool in the hands of marketer. Marketer
segmentation is the sub-division of a market into homogeneous subset of customers where any
subset may conceivably be selected as a target market to be reached with a distinct market mix.

Market segmentation is based on the fact that markets are heterogeneous and not homogeneous.
Homogenous market means a market where the prospective buyers of any product are found to be
uniform in their needs, habits, choice, nature etc. Heterogeneous market refers to a market where
the prospective buyers of any product are not found similar or homogeneous in their needs, habits,
choice, nature etc.

The basic problem in segmenting the rural market is the heterogeneous nature of the market. In
spite of there being heterogeneous market, the buyer of any product can be divided into
homogeneous groups of segments on the basis of their common needs, habits, preferences etc.

According to American Marketing Association, “Market segmentation refers to dividing the

heterogeneous markets into smaller customer groups having certain homogeneous characteristics
that can be satisfied by the firm.”
According to Philip Kotler, “Market segmentation is the sub dividing of a market into homogeneous
subsets of consumers, where any subset may conceivably be selected as a market target to be
reached with a distinct marketing mix.”

According to William J. Stanton, “Market segmentation consists of taking the total heterogeneous
market for a product and dividing it into several sub markets or segments each of which tends to be
homogeneous in all significant aspects.”