Consideration of context differences in product evaluation and market segmentation

A product evaluation and market segmentation research process is proposed which incorporates iterative, sequential studies and uses multi-measures and multi-methods of analysis. Market structure analysis is positioned within this process such that product positioning, product-space segmentation and attitude modeling are conducted as alternative analytical approaches. At each step in the research process, specific consideration is given to the various product use contexts. The corroborative findings from the analyses show that ideal beverages and important product attributes differ with the use situation. At least half of the use context results differ substantially from those in which context-specific analysis is ignored.