Cross-national segmentation

• Published in: European journal of marketing 2009-11, Vol.43 (11/12), p.1498-1522
• Main Authors: Bruning, Edward R, Hu, Michael Y, Hao, Wei (Andrew)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0309-0566; 1758-7123
• DOI: 10.1108/03090560910990009

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to propose an approach to international market segmentation that identifies meaningful cross-national consumer segments, which focuses on airline passengers in the NAFTA market.Design methodology approach - A conjoint analysis is used to evaluate consumers' preferences for six flight attributes: price, in-flight service, number of stops before destination, on-time performance, frequent flyer programme, and country of airline. A cluster analysis based on the relative importance scores of each of the six flights attributes then identifies five segments that prioritize similar product attributes within each country.Findings - A representative sample of 4,787 airline passengers from the three countries reveal that price is the most important attribute for consumers from the USA and Canada, while on-time performance is the most important attribute for Mexican consumers. A cluster analysis identifies five segments that prioritize similar product attributes within each country. It is also found that there are five cross-national consumer segments in the NAFTA market that are homogeneous in terms of consumer preferences but heterogeneous in terms of relative group size and demographic variables.Research limitations implications - The study is based on a purposive sample, which limits the ability to generalize to the whole population with any known degree of precision.Practical implications - The research produces practical operational information on each segment that is translatable into strategy, specifically in terms of positioning, promotion, and targeting of the airline service.Originality value - The paper sheds light on the nature of cross-national segmentation in the NAFTA air passengers market and the resulting cross-national segmentation will be highly relevant for international marketing management.