Question

Segmentation: The College Food Industry

Sodexho USA's Campus Services Division offers a broad range of service styles, price points, and menu selections with customizable options to suit the needs of different groups. These innovative food programs are the result of extensive research into student dining trends and preferences and are designed to better serve the company's food service markets.

Firms choose from various segmentation methods based on the type of goods/services offered and on their segmentation goals. Many firms use basic demographic or geographic variables as a segmentation tool to identify a target market, but if a firm wishes to dig deeper into why customers might purchase a product, the firm might also wish to investigate lifestyle, loyalty, or benefit segmentation. There are many segmentation tools that firms can use to best identify a market that will be responsive to their product offerings.

Read the case below and answer the questions that follow.

Sodexho USA’s Campus Services Division realized that customer segmentation would help the firm better serve its food service markets, so it embarked on a program to isolate and understand different market segments. As a foundation for its research efforts, Sodexho started with secondary research from syndicated sources. It accessed the Student Monitor's Lifestyle and Media Survey, which identifies student trends and lifestyles. It also partnered with Claritas, which specializes in geodemographic segmentation. After gaining important insights from this research, marketers at Sodexho developed and administered questionnaires to thousands of students to learn more about their specific preferences in areas such as portion size, taste, brands, price, and dining atmosphere.

One tool developed from these efforts, LifeSTYLING, allows the company to segment its markets using student zip codes. LifeSTYLING has identified six unique segments: Metro Fusion, Main Streamers, Fun Express, Time Liners, Dream Catchers, and Trend Setters. Each segment has its own lifestyle characteristics that influence consumers' preferences for menu items, specific brands, and meal times. Sodexho relies on this market information to customize the products and dining venues it offers to suit the specific tastes of different segments.

The company has found this segmentation approach useful in a variety of college settings. As Glenn Kvidahl, director of Indiana State University's dining services, explains, “Through that research, they found that about 24% of the population at Indiana State are trendsetters. They're a little more adventuresome in their tastes. They may like bagels but not plain bagels. They would rather have jalapeno bagels or blueberry bagels. They like food with a twist—authentic pastas and sauces, vegetarian dishes. In the Commons, we didn't have a lot to attract that group. What we're trying to do with the Global Market Cafe is appeal to the trendsetters.” At Sodexho, understanding the needs of different customer segments is part of everyday business.

Which of the following segmentation methods is Sodexho least likely to use in developing its market segments?

Multiple Choice

• loyalty

• benefits

• demographic

• psychographic

• geographic

Sodexho has identified six unique segments: Metro Fusion, Main Streamers, Fun Express, Time Liners, Dream Catchers, and Trend Setters. Sodexho is working on developing product offerings that meet the needs of each of these types of market segments. This is an example of what type of segmentation strategy?

Multiple Choice

• concentrated segmentation strategy

• micromarketing

• mass customization

• differentiated segmentation strategy

• undifferentiated segmentation strategy

__________ is(are) the image people have of themselves. An example of this would be if Sodexho offered an organic line of fruits and vegetables to appeal to consumers who perceived themselves as being super health-conscious.

Multiple Choice

• Psychographics

• Psychologists

• Lifestyles

• Self-concept

• Self-values

One of the main variables for evaluating whether a segment is attractive is whether the segments are __________. Sodexho was able to recognize six segments that would respond favorably to its product offerings, thus fulfilling the first requirement of segment attractiveness.

Multiple Choice

• identifiable

• attractive

• honest

• responsive

• profitable

Mr. Kvidahl at Indiana State explained that students at his school are mostly trendsetters. Based on Sodexho’s research, he worked with Sodexho to develop a __________ that would meet the needs of those students and separate its product offerings from competitors'.

Multiple Choice

• salient attribute

• proposition

• proposal

• perceptual map

• positioning strategy

Answer 1

Ans. 1) Geographic

2) Differentiated Segmentation Strategy

3) Self Concept

4) Identifiable

5) Positioning Strategy

Best of Luck !! !!