Target Market Selection in B2B Technology Markets

This article examines how marketing executives employ target marketing strategy in business technology markets. This exploratory study evaluated market selection strategies (differentiated, single segment, segment-of-1 and undifferentiated) and target marketing success. Particular attention is paid toward choosing target markets by examining segment attractiveness criteria. The three most important criteria for target market selection were opportunities in the industry, sustainable differential advantage and profitability. The research also found that competitive analysis was a strong predictor of target marketing success. In addition, market-oriented firms (use customer needs or customer groups to define markets) are more successful in using technology than non-market-oriented firms when redefining markets. The work concludes with sections on strategic implications for business target marketing and a research agenda for segmentation scholars.