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I magine people widely using smartphones and laptops in the 1980s, colour TVs in the 1950s, or motor cars in the early 1900s. These technologies were regarded as futuristic concepts at first, but eventually became the way of life. Similarly, the idea of operating a vehicle using electricity was conceived in the 19th century. Unfortunately, the concept did not progress beyond just being an amusement or as they say a parlour trick—“Look! No horse or ox, yet it moves!’’. Yet, after several ups and downs, when electric vehicles (EVs) subsequently entered the automobile market as an alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), they failed to penetrate the market due to multiple reasons. With rising fuel prices and environmental concerns over the last few years, the automobile industry witnessed the return of EVs (electric vehicles) by new entrants such as Tesla painting a unique picture for the automobile sector with their high-performance EVs that use advanced...

In the dynamic, competitive marketing landscape, no business can move a step further without having a clear picture of the market it is entering into and the consumers associated with it. Marketers hence invest resources in ‘Segmentation Studies’ to understand which consumer segment to target and how to target them to develop tailored products/services, tailor marketing strategies better, design customer experience and tap growth opportunities. Let’s start with the basics of a segmentation study. A segmentation study identifies a set of criteria based on which a market is divided into segments, including consumers with homogenous purchasing traits, needs and expectations. The study allows marketers to pick identical benefits associated with the segments so that the most promising one can be focused on to create an effective brand portfolio. The ultimate aim of segmentation research is to design market strategies and tactics for the different segments to optimize products and services...