Market segmentation is a multicriterion problem. This dissertation addresses the multicriterion nature of market segmentation with a new unified segmentation model that is derived from multiobjective conceptual framework. The unified model elegantly solves the intrinsic antagonistic problem of market segmentation by generating a set of Pareto optimal solutions that represents different tradeoffs among multiple conflicting objectives. This dissertation develops an innovative implementation named Multicriterion Market Segmentation using Evolutionary Algorithm (MMSEA). Based on multiobjective evolutionary algorithms, MMSEA overcomes many limitations and disadvantages of existing methods by optimizing multiple objectives simultaneously, searching for globally optimal solutions and generating a set of Pareto optimal solutions. It also suggests the interesting solutions based on the geometric characteristics of Pareto front. The method was applied to customer value and benefit segmentation for the cell phone service market (a descriptive segmentation model) and customer response segmentation for a national retailer (two predictive segmentation models). The empirical evaluation shows that the proposed unified market segmentation model and solution techniques provide the decision makers with many insights and enhanced flexibility that are missing in existing market segmentation methods.

The central concern in the thesis is the relationship between the 'concept of ideology' and the philosophies, motivations and lived experience of Youth Training Scheme (YTS) trainees and trainers. This incorporates both the application, effects and impact of official ideologies, expressed in youth policy initiatives and ideologies of the wider society. This in turn is related to the cultural and societal reproduction of young people as gendered and class specific workers in a segmented labour market. The empirical data were collected over a 20 month period at two off-the-job training establishments in the city of Surfton in the South West region of Britain and consisted of questionnaires participant observations and interviews. The first part of the thesis critically reviews the social science literature relating to the new vocationalism, the YTS, labour market segmentation and the concept of ideology. This establishes a series of theoretical concerns which are then tested against empirical data. The thesis demonstrates how formalised official ideologies are mediated through the YTS curriculum and affect the philosophies of both the trainers who implement this curriculum and the trainees who receive this curriculum. The thesis illustrates that YTS participants may support, reinterpret or subvert the official philosophies of the YTS by actually bringing meaning into their lived experiences via ideologies associated with their historical, positional, family class and gendered backgrounds. The thesis will show that the trainees learn not so much technical knowledge, but how to acquire the ideological and practical cultural meanings of a series of workers for a segmented labour market, with greater or lesser collusion from their trainers. The thesis contributes to existing knowledge both at the level of data generation and by illustrating a series of complex, refined and subtle ideological mechanisms which contribute further to our understanding of the microsociology of inequality.

This paper describes the use of corporate decision and strategy simulations as a decision-support instrument under varying market conditions in the tourism industry. It goes on to illustrate this use of simulations with an experiment which investigates how successful different market segmentation approaches are in destination management. The experiment assumes a competitive environment and various cycle-length conditions with regard to budget and strategic planning. Computer simulations prove to be a useful management tool, allowing customized experiments which provide insight into the functioning of the market and therefore represent an interesting tool for managerial decision support. The main drawback is the initial setup of a customized computer simulation, which is time-consuming and involves defining parameters with great care in order to represent the actual market environment and to avoid excessive complexity in testing cause-effect-relationships. (author's abstract) / Series: Report Series SFB "Adaptive Information Systems and Modelling in Economics and Management Science"

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-51).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Zürich.

Thesis (M.Econ.)--University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 12-13). Also available in print.

Part of the author's dissertation at Ohio State University. / "September 1993." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

When there are several possible segmentation variables, marketers must investigate the ramifications of their potential interactions. These include their mutual association, the identification of the best (the distinguished) segmentation variable and its predictability by a set of descriptor variables, and the structure of the multivariate system(s) obtained from the segmentation and descriptor variables. This procedure has been defined as segment congruence analysis (SCA). This study utilizes the information theoretic and the log-linear/logit approaches to address a variety of research questions in segment congruence analysis. It is shown that the information theoretic approach expands the scope of SCA and offers some advantages over traditional methods. Data obtained from a survey conducted by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and Northwest utilities is used to demonstrate the information theoretic and the log-linear/logit approaches and compare these two methods. The survey was designed to obtain information on energy consumption habits, attitudes toward selected energy issues, and the conservation measures utilized by the residents in the Pacific Northwest. The analyses are performed in two distinct phases. Phase I includes assessment of mutual association among segmentation variables and four methods (based on different information theoretic functions) for identifying candidates for the distinguished variable. Phase II addresses the selection and analysis of the distinguished variable. This variable is selected either a priori or by assessment of its predictability from (segmentation or exogenous) descriptor variables. The relations between the distinguished variable and the descriptor variables are further analyzed by examining the predictability issue in greater detail and by evaluating structural models of the multivariate systems. The methodological conclusions of this study are that the information theoretic and log-linear methods have deep similarities. The analyses produced intuitively plausible results. In Phase I, energy related awareness, behavior, perceptions, attitudes, and electricity consumption were identified as candidate segmentation variables. In Phase II, using exogenous descriptor variables, electricity consumption was selected as the distinguished variable. The analysis of this variable indicated that the demographic factors, type of dwelling, and geoclimatic environment are among the most important determinants of electricity consumption.

The Chinese car market has, through the last decade evolved into the major market in the world. Its car market from has become the world’s largest market from 2009 until today. With the emerging market that is China, the demand for cars is supposed to grow even more in the next decade.The thesis starts by studying the theories of consumer market segmentation with a hybrid and dynamic aspect. A quantitative investigation was conducted with the help of a survey. The survey was sent out to car consumers and potential car consumers who are residing in China. From this study the authors were able to anticipate possible preferential profiles.