Body:
1.) Introduction:
Toshiba is a cooperation which established in 1978 in Japan. Toshiba is the world's 9th largest integrated manufacturer of electric and electronic equipment, with 190,709 employees’ worldwide and consolidated annual sales of over US$61 billion, taking the number 91 spot in the world (The Fortune, 2007). This cooperation is also a world leader in high technology, a diversified manufacturer and marketer of 4 main business segments which are Digital Products, Electronic Devices & Components, Social Infrastructure Systems and Household Appliances (Toshiba, n.d.).
2.) Demographic Market Segmentation:
2.1) Market Segmentation Based on Gender Groups:
Gender is one of the key demographic variables for Toshiba’s market
3.2) Market Segmentation Based on Social Class:
Income has determined the purchasing power of an individual. As the income increases, the power to make purchases become higher. Therefore, the upper class is capable of purchasing more goods and services. However, Toshiba is not focusing only on upper class segment. They understand that upper class is not the majority of society (Abercrombie et al., 2000). Hence, Toshiba produces the products that are equally distributed to upper, middle and lower class to earn maximum profit (Toshiba, 2008). Although the products for middle class and lower class may get lower returns per unit, the proportion is larger. This is due to the fact that electronic devices played a main role in our daily life today. Some electronic devices are the basics requirements of each family. For the upper class, certain products are designed to be more luxurious. Human psychology has proven the passion of human soul for materialisms, which focuses on wealth, possessions, image and popularity as well as psychological needs (Kasser, 2003). Therefore, upper class people may only demand electronic devices that are special and luxury. Although these kinds of products are less in the market, the return profit from each unit is bigger. Toshiba can get the support from whole market only if they emphasizes on all the social classes’ market segment.
4.) Geographical Variables:
4.1) Market Segmentation Based on Climates:
In terms of climate market