Segmenting the Women's Market: A Comparison of Work-Related Segmentation Schemes

Abstract Many important changes have occurred to make the women's market less homogeneous than in the past. Researchers have attempted to segment the women's market using demographics, psychographics, and combinations of the two. Results have been mixed. This study attempts to compare the effectiveness of three segmentation bases in advertising to women consumers. The results of an advertising experiment suggest that a psychographic variable (Eyde's Desire to Work Scale) is superior to employment status and a segmentation scheme suggested by Bartos [1977, 1978].