Market segmentation by occupation helps you to determine the most accurate social class for your target market.

Occupation Reveals Social Class For Market Segmentation

Occupation, rather than income, is the most important predictor of social class. If you know how people in your target market earn their income, you can use market segmentation to reveal their social class.

That’s important because social class reveals your target market’s concerns, values, attitudes, consumer habits, information needs and other psychographic characteristics.

If your target market members are in a different social class than you are, you may find it difficult to communicate effectively. Thus, creating successful marketing messages demands that you recognize social class differences.

Social Class Reveals Target Market Characteristics

The following occupation information illustrates some of the differences by social class market segments for you to consider as you plan your marketing:

• Upper class - generally don’t work, but live off their investments. Some manage large corporations.

• Middle class -work with their minds in professions that serve the upper class. They educate the children, provide medical care, and manage investments for the upper- and other middle-class people. These professionals exercise considerable control and creativity in their jobs.

• Lower class - work with their hands in routine, uncreative jobs over which they have little control.

As you can see from the above list, occupation is important because it helps to determine the social class of your target market. Social class information will then help you to discover the best appeals for your target market.

Using market segmentation in this way reveals characteristics that you can use to market across social classes.

By using my matrix market segmentation process, you can determine social class characteristics from your target market’s occupation and learn psychographics, behavioral and other characteristics about your target market’s social class.

You can learn more about education characteristics to even better determine social class.

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Posted 3-17-08: Market Segmentation
by Occupation Market Segment

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