Effect of Market Segmentation on Organization Performance: A Case Study of Jambo Group Companies, Shinyanga – Tanzania

Abstract

The study looked at the impact of market segmentation on organisational performance using Jambo Group companies in Tanzania's Shinyanga region. Marketing segmentation is said to be a strong marketing strategy for assisting an organization's performance toward achieving its targeted goals. For that reason, the study established three specific objectives, which were:  to determine the effect of behavioural market segmentation on organisation performance; to evaluate the effect of demographic market segmentation on organisation performance in terms of sales and to evaluate the effect of psychographic market segmentation on organisational performance. The study was guided by two theories: Abram Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory, and Market Segmentation Theory. The study employed a qualitative research approach and a case study design, whereby Jambo Group companies in the Shinyanga region were referred to as the case study area. Purposive sampling was applied to select respondents, whereby a total of eight respondents from marketing, sales, and distribution units from three districts in the Shinyanga region were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. The data collected were transcribed, coded, and analysed into themes. The findings of the study revealed that behavioural market segmentation had a great influence on organisation performance, whereby three elements of behavioural market segmentation emerged to have an influence, namely, customer loyalty, user status, and usage rate. Furthermore, the study discovered that demographic market segmentation had an impact on organisational performance, with age, income, and gender emerging as elements of demographic market segmentation that influenced Jambo food product consumers. Finally, the study found that psychographic market segmentation influences consumers of Jambo food products through elements of personality, lifestyle, and social status.

Finally, the study recommends that behavioural, demographic and psychographic market segmentations are strong segmentation elements that improve an organisational performance.