Marketing and Segmentation - Research Paper Example

Marketing Research and Segmentation – Macquarie Hospital, New South Wales Table of contents Introduction 3 2. Macquarie University Hospital – Marketing research and segmentation 3 2.1 Brief description of the hospital 3 2.2 Market research – psychographic & lifestyle analysis 4 2.2.1 Activities: work 4 2.2.2 Psychological attributes 4 2.2.3 Lifestyle profile 5 2.3 Market segmentation 5 2.3.1 Income 5 2.3.2 Gender 6 2.4 Analysis of the lifestyle profile 6 2.4.1 Evaluation of the lifestyle profile 6 2.4.2 How does this profile provides an insight on how the people in this neighborhood perceive your facility? 7 2.4.3 Accuracy of demographic information 7 3. Conclusion 7 References 8 Appendix 9 1. Introduction In the context of global market firms need to continuously update their strategies so that their market position is not threatened. Marketing can help a firm to improve its image in the market and expand its customer base. The marketing techniques chosen in each case depend on many factors, such as the level of the industry competition and the resources available. Current paper focuses on the potential use of marketing research and segmentation for the improvement of performance of a specific organization: the Macquarie University Hospital, one of the most important hospitals in New South Wales, Australia. An appropriately customized lifestyle analysis has been used for helping the organization to proceed to market segmentation. In this way, the relationship between the organization and its customers would be improved leading the organization to a long – term growth. 2. Macquarie University Hospital – Marketing research and segmentation 2.1 Brief description of the hospital The Macquarie University Hospital is located in ‘the North Ryde campus of Macquarie University, New South Wales’ (Macquarie University Hospital, 2012). The Hospital offers to its patients high standards in terms of ‘health, safety and comfort’ (Macquarie University Hospital, About Us, 2012). The Hospital was first established in 2010, i.e. it is rather new in the market. Its patients have the advantage of access to a high range of ‘specialists and researchers’ (Macquarie University Hospital, About Us, 2012). In other words, patients don’t have to travel to different healthcare settings for covering their health needs (Macquarie University Hospital, 2012). The use of advanced technology in medical treatment is considered as another advantage of the Hospital towards its rivals. 2.2 Market research – psychographic & lifestyle analysis 2.2.1 Activities: work habits The percentage of people who are active in terms of employment in New South Wales has been increased in 2009/2010 reaching the 3.5 million. This is an important increase if having in mind the fact that for the period 2001/2002 the employed people in NSW were just 3.1 million (Australian Bureau of Statistics, NSW State and Regional Indicators, Dec 2010, 2011). This means that the buying power of people in the specific region is increased, compared to the past. Thus, the potentials of the local population to seek for medical assistance of high quality are high. On the other hand, a differentiation seems to exist in NSW between men and women in regard to their status of employment. Indeed, it has been proved that women in NSW are more likely to work part-time compared to men (Australian Bureau of Statistics, NSW State and Regional Indicators, Dec 2010, 2011). As indicated in the Graph 1 (Appendix), a percentage of about 50% of employed women in NSW are part-time workers. In general, in NSW employed men are more than employed women. More specifically, the percentage of employed male in NSW for 2010 was estimated at 70.6% while for women the above percentage was just 56.4% (Australian Bureau of Statistics, NSW State and Regional Indicators, Dec 2010, 2011). 2.2.2 Psychological attributes According to a report published by the Australian Government in 2012, high cultural diversity is one of the key characteristics of Australia. It seems that the specific characteristic is related to the extremely high number of migrants across the country (Australian Government, 2012). In fact, among the 23 million people living in Australia today, about 25% are migrants (Australian Government, 2012). Still, there are certain values and principles that are highly promoted in Australia: class distinctions and discrimination are not accepted (Australian Government, 2012). Moreover, in the report of AMSRS (2011) it is made clear that Australians tend to change view easily, being influenced by the media and their social environment (AMSRS, 2011). 2.2.3 Lifestyle profile According to the issues discussed above, the lifestyle profile of people in NSW could be described as follows: people in this region have increased buying power, an assumption based on the fact that the level of unemployment in the region is quite low. Moreover, there are no standards in terms of Australians’ behavioral characteristics. The high cultural diversity of Australia supports the development of a high range of cultures and behavioral trends. Still, rationality highly influences the behavior of people. At the same time, values, such as equality and diversity, are highly respected. 2.3 Market segmentation Using the demographic information presented above, marketers in Macquarie University Hospital could proceed to market segmentation. In this way the image of the Hospital in the local market would be further improved. 2.3.1 Income Income would be the first criterion of market segmentation. As explained earlier, in section 2.2.1 men are more likely to work compared to women. In addition, women tend to work more in part-time jobs, compared to men. It is assumed that men are more capable than women to spend on products and services of various types, including the healthcare services. The Hospital would possibly emphasize on the increase and the enrichment of medical services addressing men. However, people in NSW do not have the same level of income. Indeed, it has been proved that a high percentage of the region’s employed people are part-time workers. This means that the Hospital should review its charging policy. Possibly, schemes for medical treatment of low cost could be introduced. In this way, more people could access the Hospital’s services. 2.3.2 Gender In terms of gender, the Hospital’s marketers should take into consideration the following fact: no differences seem to exist between men and women as of their response to market trends. Rather, men and women seem to highly value rationality and equality. Still, both men and women are likely to change their view easily, under the influence of the media or their environment (AMSRS, 2011). On the other hand, men and women have different income potentials, as explained earlier. It should be noted that the representation of men and women in the local population seems to be equal (Graph 2, Appendix). 2.4 Analysis of the lifestyle profile 2.4.1 Evaluation of the lifestyle profile The lifestyle profile of people in NSW, as presented above, offers the potential to understand those consumers’ responses to marketing practices (Kotler & Armstrong, 2009). It also helps to identify those marketing strategies that would be most appropriate for attracting more customers, either in the short or the long term (Egan & Thomas, 2012). The lifestyle profile of people in NSW reveals an important contradiction. More specifically, if cultural diversity in NSW is high, still there are certain behavioral standards: freedoms and rights are highly respected while discrimination of all types is rejected. Moreover, enthusiasm is rather kept at low levels, while rationality is highly promoted. It should be noted that the lifestyle profile, as an element of market segmentation has the following disadvantages: a) the validity of its assumptions in the long term can be doubted since it is based on information reflecting current market conditions (Egan & Thomas, 2012), b) the validity of its assumptions could be also doubted based on the fact that it is often difficult to interpret appropriately the behavioral characteristics of people in a particular region (Egan & Thomas, 2012). This problem is higher in regions with high cultural diversity, such as the NSW. 2.4.2 How does this profile provides an insight on how the people in this neighborhood perceive your facility? The lifestyle profile presented above shows the key behavioral characteristics of men and women in NSW. Also, the above lifestyle profile reveals the potentials of men and women in NSW to respond to marketing messages. From this point of view, the specific lifestyle profile helps to identify the level at which men and women in NSW would be attracted by the marketing policies of Macquarie University Hospital. 2.4.3 Accuracy of demographic information The demographic information used in this paper has been based on reports published by the Australian government and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. From this point of view, the validity and the accuracy of information used in the development of this study could not be doubted. 3. Conclusion The lifestyle analysis of people in NSW can help marketers in Macquarie University Hospital to develop an effective marketing plan based on market segmentation, in terms of income and gender. However, the potential drawbacks of lifestyle analysis, as analyzed earlier, should not be ignored. Also, marketers in the Macquarie Hospital should take into consideration the fact that in current market conditions, which are highly turbulent, it is difficult for market trends to remain unchanged. References AMSRS. (2011). Understanding Australia’s Population. Australian Market & Social Research Society, 28(6), 1-32. Retrieved from http://aprc-research.com/wp_aprcres/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Research_News_July2011_Web.pdf Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2011, August 4). New South Wales. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/3235.0~2010~Main+Features~New+South+Wales?OpenDocument Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2011, January). NSW State and Regional Indicators, Dec 2010. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/1338.1Main+Features4Dec+2010 Australian Government. (2012). About Australia: People, Culture and Lifestyle. Retrieved from http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/people_culture.html Berkowitz, E. (2010). Essentials of Health Care Marketing. Sudbury, UK: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Egan, C., & Thomas, M. (2012). CIM Handbook of Strategic Marketing. Oxford, UK: CRC Press. Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2009). Principles of Marketing. (13 ed.) Essex, UK: Pearson Education. Appendix Graph 1 – Part – time workers in NSW, represented as a proportion of total employed (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, NSW State and Regional Indicators, Dec 2010, 2011) Graph 2 – Population in NSW, in June 2010, per age and sex (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, New South Wales 222012) Read More