As a result of evaluating different segments, the company hopes to find one or more market segments worth entering. The company must decide which and how many segments to serve.
This is the problem of target market selection. A target market consists of a set of buyers sharing common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve. The company can consider five patterns of target market selection.
1. Single segment concentration:
In the simplest case, the company selects a single segment. This company may have limited funds and may want to operate only in one segment, it might be a segment with no competitor, and it might be a segment that is a logical launching pad for further segment
2. Selective specialization:
Here a firm selects a number of segments, each of which is attractive and matches the firm's objectives and resources. This strategy of 'multi-segment coverage' has the advantage over 'single-segment coverage' in terms of diversifying the firm’s risk i.e. even if one segment becomes unattractive, the firm can continue to earn money in other
3. Product specialization:
Here the firm concentrates on marketing a certain product that it sells to several segments. Through this strategy, the firm builds a strong reputation in the specific product area.
4. Market Specialization:
Here the firm concentrates on serving many needs of a particular customer group. The firm gains a strong reputation for specializing in serving this customer group and becomes a channel agent for all new products that this customer group could feasibly
5. Full Market Coverage:
Here the firm attempts to serve all customer groups with all the products that they might need. Only large firms can undertake a full market coverage strategy. e.g. Philips (Electronics), HLL (Consumer non-durables).
Large firms going in for whole market can do so in two broad ways— through undifferentiated marketing or differentiated marketing.