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TEXT 5
Market segmentation
As specialised market segments have developed and been identied, there
has been a growth in the number of organisations offering goods and serv-
ices which are much more closely related to the customer.
It is obvious to say that certain types of goods and services have always
been purchased by certain parts of the population and not by others. Initially
segmentation was very crude: rich or poor; fashionable or utilitarian; etc.
Common sense was the key rather than scientific segmentation. As com-
petition became more fierce in almost every market, businesses paid more
attention to their markets.
Having identied a specic market, certain features of that market will
be similar to each other, but not identical. As a result it is highly unlikely
that one product will be ideal for everyone in that market. Take a look at
the products on any supermarket shelf. Just choose one, say the soap. Each
soap has its own distinctive qualities, from simple ones such as price to
subtle aromas and the creaminess of the lather. More recently, other con-
siderations and approaches have been developed: liquid soap (convenient
and non-messy); perfume-free (for sensitive skins); and environmentally
friendly (fully bio-degradable). A wealth of different products for dif-
ferent people, but take a look at the labels on the packets and you will cer-
tainly see that less than a dozen manufacturers are offering the majority
of these soap products. They have identied their market, broken it down
and rened their segmentation, and now cater successfully for sub-groups
within the market.
Selection and evaluation of a market segment
To ascertain the viability of a segment, estimates must be made. Essen-
tially, after having worked out the size of the segment, you need to estimate
turnover (likely) and prot, and to forecast what the future needs of that
segment will be.
It is often the case that these specic market segments are not in
step with the rest of the market as a whole. The best example of this is the
increase in the consumption of low-tar cigarettes in the face of severe
cuts in the overall cigarette market.
Organisations which pay particular attention to evaluation of market
segments calculate:
117
Task 1. Answer the following questions using the information from the text.
1. What innovative technologies are the most important at the
present?
2. What do you know about the Large Hadron Collider?
3. What does «nanotechnology» mean ?
4. «Cloning» is dangerous for mankind, isn’t it? What’s your opinion?
5. What can you tell about the launch of «Phoenix»?
Task 2. Find the English equivalents of the following collocations in the
text.
Superconducting state, various demonstrations, estimation of new ideas,
toincreaseone’sproductivity,totakepartincompetition,intheeldof
study, signicantscienticeventsof2008,listofnominees,nanofoam
materials, nanostructured metals, conducting scientic discussion,
power engineering, search of new ideas, the research carried out by the
group, to provide a lot of opportunities.
Task 3. Choose the right answer.
1. How many young scientists took part in the work of Convent?
a) 105
b) 55
c) 30
2. What animals were cloned in Japan?
a) Cows
b) Pigs
c) Horses
d) Bears
e) Goats
3. In what branches of science are innovative technologies especially
important?
a) Physics
b) Astronomy
c) Chemistry
d) Biology
4. Where is the Large Hadron Collider situated?
a) Germany
b) Russia
c) OntheFrance-Switzerlandborder
5. What planet was the probe «Phoenix» launched to?
a) Saturn
b) Moon
c) Mars
d) Jupiter
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