Segmentation, Market Research and SWOT

Segmentation, research and SWOT

No business can please everyone at once, so the smart ones work out exactly who their customers are and what those customers want. In leisure and tourism this means splitting the market into groups, finding out what people really think, and taking an honest look at the business itself before making a plan. This module covers market segmentation, the different ways a market can be divided; market research, how a business gathers information and the methods it can use; and the SWOT analysis, a simple tool for weighing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Together these help a business set clear objectives and spend its money on the right people rather than guessing.

Words for segmentation and research

Learn these terms before the research methods are matched up. They name the ideas used in this topic.

Match each research method to what it is

Inside against outside in a SWOT

A SWOT analysis sorts what a business finds into four boxes. Two look inward at the business itself, and two look outward at the world around it.

Which segment are they targeting?

A travel company wants to advertise family holidays to parents with young children. Which segmentation base are they using?

• Age and family stage
• The weather that week
• Choosing customers at random
• Aiming at everyone equally

How the internet changed marketing

The internet and social media have transformed how leisure and tourism businesses reach customers. A good website lets people browse and book at any hour, while social media spreads word of a place far faster than any poster. Review sites shape choices before a customer ever makes contact, so a run of poor reviews can cost real bookings. Businesses also learn about visitors from the data they leave behind, such as the pages they linger on, which helps a firm show the right offer to the right person. Used well, these tools reach more people for less money; used badly, a single bad review or a clumsy pop-up can drive customers away.

Pick the ways to segment a market

Select every genuine way a business can split its market into segments.

• By age
• By lifestyle
• By income or social group
• By shoe size, for a holiday firm
• By picking names at random

Order how to run market research

Put the steps of a piece of market research into a sensible order.

• Decide what you need to find out
• Choose a suitable research method
• Collect the information from customers
• Analyse what the results show
• Use the findings to make a decision

Complete the research and SWOT facts

Splitting customers into groups such as by age or lifestyle is called _____. The particular group a business aims at is its _____ market. A _____ analysis weighs strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A business plans its work around its main _____, the goals it wants to reach.

Tap the two strengths in a SWOT

A hotel lists four points about itself. Tap the TWO that are strengths in a SWOT analysis.

• highly trained, friendly staff
• a prime seafront location
• tired rooms that need updating
• a new rival hotel opening nearby

A doctor before a prescription

Think of a business planning its future like a doctor before writing a prescription. A good doctor does not guess. They ask questions, run tests, and listen carefully, so that the treatment fits the patient in front of them rather than some imagined average person. They weigh what is strong and what is weak, what might help and what might harm, before deciding anything. A business works the same way: it finds out who its customers really are, gathers honest information, and takes a clear-eyed look at itself and the world around it. Only then does it choose a plan. Guessing is quick, but it is how businesses waste money on the wrong people.

The research and SWOT run

Answer each one correctly to keep your lives. Choose the best answer.

Make a good research choice

Read each situation and choose the best answer.

• A theme park wants honest, detailed views from a small number of visitors. What method fits best?
• You want to know how visitors actually move around a museum. What is the best method?
• A business finds a new rival opening nearby. In a SWOT, this is a...

Build a market research point

Choose the word for each gap to complete one point about understanding a market.

Explain segmentation, research and SWOT

A friend is starting a small tourism business and asks how to understand its market and plan well. Using what you have learned, explain the main points.

• Explain what market segmentation is and give some ways to segment
• Explain what market research is and name some methods
• Explain the difference between primary and secondary research
• Explain what a SWOT analysis shows
• Explain why knowing all this helps a business set its objectives