Itcanbearguedthatmuchconsumerdissatisfactionwithmarketingstrategiesarisesfromaninabilitytoaimadvertisingatonlythelikelybuyersofagivenproduct.Therearethreegroupsofconsumerswhoareaffectedbythemarketingprocess.First,thereisthemarketsegment—peoplewhoneedthecommodityinquestion.Second,thereistheprogramtarget—peopleinthemarketsegmentwiththe“bestfit”characteristicsforaspecificproduct.Lotsofpeoplemayneedtrousers,butonlyafewqualifyaslikelybuyersofveryexpensivedesignertrousers.Finally,thereistheprogramaudience—allpeoplewhoareactuallyexposedtothemarketingprogramwithoutregardtowhethertheyneedorwanttheproduct Thesethreegroupsarerarelyidentical.Anexceptionoccursincaseswherecustomersforaparticularindustrialproductmaybefewandeasilyidentifiable.Suchcustomers,allsharingaparticularneed,arelikelytoformameaningfultarget,forexample,allcompanieswithaparticularapplicationoftheproductinquestion,suchashigh-speedfillersofbottlesatbreweries.Insuchcircumstances,directselling(marketingthatreachesonlytheprogramtarget)islikelytobeeconomicallyjustified,andhighlyspecializedtrademediaexisttoexposemembersoftheprogramtarget—andonlymembersoftheprogramtarget—tothemarketingprogram. Mostconsumer-goodsmarketsaresignificantlydifferent.Typically,therearemanyratherthanfewpotentialcustomers.Eachrepresentsarelativelysmallpercentageofpotentialsales.Rarelydomembersofaparticularmarketsegmentgroupthemselvesneatlyintoameaningfulprogramtarget.Therearesubstantialdifferencesamongconsumerswithsimilardemographiccharacteristics.Evenwithallthepastdecade’sadvancesininformationtechnology,directsellingofconsumergoodsisrare,andmassmarketing—amarketingapproachthataimsatawideaudience—remainstheonlyeconomicallyfeasiblemode.Unfortunately,therearefewmediathatallowthemarketertodirectamarketingprogramexclusivelytotheprogramtarget.Inevitably,peoplegetexposedtoagreatdealofmarketingforproductsinwhichtheyhavenointerestandsotheybecomeannoyed. Thepassagesuggestswhichofthefollowingabouthighlyspecializedtrademedia?
A.They should be used only when direct selling is not economically feasible. B.They can be used to exclude from the program audience people who are not part of the program target. C.They are used only for very expensive products. D.They are rarely used in the implementation of marketing programs for industrial products.正确答案B
