Consumer Behavior

You work for a start-up that makes organic hummus! The product is quite delicious, but hummus appeals to a very wide range of people and groups. Your new company could exhaust its resources trying to appeal to every group that may be a likely hummus consumer. It is your job as the marketing analyst to recommend a research strategy and approach to figure out which groups to target with your hummus. 

I spend the most amount of time out of anyone on our staff in grocery stores and working with buying managers for groceries; I tell you, mothers and fathers of young children are the right target for this hummus. Parents care about having organic meals and snacks, and are willing to pay a little extra to make sure that their kids have the best. Coming out with lunchbox-sized servings paired with some carrot sticks and pita is the way to go. Come up with a cartoon character, and we will be set to retire in 5 years after watching our sales climb steadily! People are always having kids and the numbers will grow and grow. I, well... I haven’t done any research to back up my assumptions, but the census data is free for the taking, so you can go look.

It would be silly to target any group in the U.S. other than the people who are the base market for hummus; those people come from families who’ve been eating it for generations! We target people of Middle Eastern descent—Turkish, Greek, Arabic, Israeli. We don’t have to coupon or sample because they know what the product is and they like it, and they like our brand because it’s organic and it tastes the best. You check the census on that. It’s not a huge group, but it’s a loyal base and they eat our food.

Keep the packaging traditional: have an Aramaic-looking font, classy colors; no cartoons or bubblegum silliness. You’ll have a loyal customer base with this group that you can take to the bank.

Hold on, now. I’ve done some research on trends, and people in the U.S. are eating healthier and healthier. We should target people who are dieting, as well as vegans and vegetarians. We can go into health food stores instead of mass-market grocery stores and blow them away with our taste and our organic, low-calorie product. This group knows hummus as well as do people who grew up with it, and they may be taking hummus for granted. We need to make our hummus packaging exciting and extol the health virtues; not something boring and traditional, and definitely not something silly and meant for kids. These people take their food seriously, and we should take them seriously as a market!

Can you use your knowledge about segmentation to help your company decide on a marketing scheme that will help it be successful in the marketplace? Let's see what you can cook up for ideas!

Now that you have heard this exchange, write a short business memo addressing the different recommended targets. Do a bit of research if you would like, and make a recommendation about which group to target first, without alienating the other targets.