Most importantly, a properly designed Web site can give potential customers the ability to choose their level
of interaction. A company can present a mass media type of message that a site visitor can click to access a
more detailed message. If the visitor still wants more information, the site can offer the opportunity for
interactive communication (such as an online chat) with a customer service representative. Thus, the Web
can offer elements of mass media messaging, personal contact interaction, and anything in between.
The Internet has created new communications modalities for individuals and companies. People can
post their thoughts on a Web site and invite others to add commentary. This type of Web site, known as a
Web log or blog, has provided an outlet for political, religious, and other statements of strongly felt beliefs.
In recent years, some retailers have experimented with blogs as an adjunct communication device. These
retailers hope that blogs will give their online stores a personality and provide customers with a reason to
visit their Web sites even if they are not shopping. For example, clothing retailer Bluefly operates a
blogcalled Flypaper that is written and edited by employees in their spare time. Customers and other Web
site visitors are invited to add commentary, ask questions, and state opinions, but Bluefly edits and controls
what gets posted to the site. Bluefly hopes that the Flypaper blog will reinforce the company’s image as a
place to shop for customers who care more about current fashion than about getting a good price on clothing
that might no longer be fashionable. Blogs are examples of how companies can use the Web to engage in
two-way communications that more closely resemble the high-trust personal contact mode of
communication than the low-trust mass media mode. And they allow companies to achieve some of these
benefits without incurring the high cost of traditional personal contact techniques.
Market Segmentation
Companies’ response to the decrease in advertising effectiveness was to identify specific portions of
their markets and target them with specific advertising messages. This practice, called market segmentation,
divides the pool of potential customers into groups, or segments. Segments are usually defined in terms of
customer characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, income level, and geographic location. Thus, for
example, unmarried men between the ages of 19 and 25 might be one market segment.
Marketers have traditionally used three categories of variables to identify market segments. One
variable is location. Firms divide their customers into groups by where they live or work. In this type of
segmentation, called geographic segmentation, companies create different combinations of marketing efforts
for each geographical group of customers. The grouping can be by nation, state (or province), city, or even
by neighborhood. Alternatively, companies can develop one marketing strategy for urban customers,
another for suburban customers, and yet a third for rural customers. The second category uses information
about age, gender, family size, income, education, religion, or ethnicity to group customers. This type of
segmentation is called demographic segmentation. Demographic variables are frequently used by traditional
marketers because research has shown that customers’ need for and usage of products are strongly related to
these types of variables. Demographic segmentation also exists on the Web. For example, a number of sites
are devoted to women’s issues or directed at specific age groups (such as teenagers) whose members tend to
purchase music CDs and trendy clothing. Often, demographic and geographic segmenting strategies are
combined. For example, an airline might target middle-income families living in Wisconsin and Michigan
with midwinter advertising for vacation trips to Florida. In psychographic segmentation, marketers try to
group customers by variables such as social class, personality, or their approach to life. For example, an auto
company might direct advertising for a sports car to customers who are gregarious and have a high need for
achievement. The use of psychographic segmentation has increased dramatically in recent years as
marketers attempt to identify characteristic lifestyles and then design advertising to reach people who see
themselves as having a particular lifestyle
BEYOND MARKET SEGMENTATION: CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR AND RELATIONSHIP
INTENSITY
The next step—beyond market segmentation, even beyond one-to-one marketing—is when
companies use the Web to target specific customers in different ways at different times.
Segmentation Using Customer Behavior
In the physical world, businesses can sometimes create different experiences for customers in response
to their needs. For example, a company might decide that its mission is to sell prepared meals to hungry
customers. A given potential customer responds to hunger in different ways at different times. If a person is
hungry in the morning, but late for work, that person might drive through a fast food restaurant or grab a