Toward a theory of segmentation by objectives in social marketing

Two consumer characteristics-objectives (goals) and strategies (decision rules)-are investigated as possible criteria in market segmentation, and a method is proposed for inferring them from behavior. A decision-rule model and an ensuing decision-process model are specified and then empirically estimated with data from a nutrition survey in a developing society. Segments based on decision rules were found to have between-group heterogeneity, which was substantiated by the decision-process, an econometric model.