Occupation Viable As A Means Of Segmenting

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

When looking at the hotel industry, there are two fundamental groups of travelers- business and family, another way of looking at this would be price and purpose. This can be broken down to how these segments use time, money and effort to peruse specific consumable items. This may spark a Utilitarian need in the consumer, which will drive he or she to reduce tension of a specific need.

"Market segmentation is the process of dividing a potential market into distinct subsets of consumers and selecting one or more consumer segments as a target market to be reached with a distinct marketing mix." Consumer behavior book

Occupation variable

If we consider employees of construction who are working by location, the use of a low budget overnight accommodation is simply used for the purpose to have a safe shelter for the night. These hotels will be in high density areas usually located around intersecting motorways and public transportation facilities. This can be observed threw "drive theory", the human need to satisfy basic personal needs example food, sleep ,shelter.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ireland/unemployment-rate

Top business executives, may use a hotel for the use of a conference room with additional charges of hotel facilities, this would be high purchase expenditure, however this particular segment will be happy to pay the price if specific needs are satisfied. This hotel would convey images of being central in a city environment and proficient of desirable wants. Their core drive would be motivational strength, the assurance of spending energy and time to achieve a goal, this goal would be approved by colleagues and coworkers at the time of a large event.

If we consider leisure or family, the desirable service may be a state of the art golfing facility, with spa and swimming pool facilities to cater for the rest of the family. These types of drives originate from expectancy theory. This is where behavior is pulled by expectations of achieving desirable outcomes.

This growing diversity in hotel segmentation allows travelers to choose more specifically the services they seek in a hotel. Thus specific market segments, desire market specific needs.

Using occupation as means of segmentation in the hotel industry in Ireland, will vastly segment the market, however due to the high number of income versus non employed, creates a risk of ignoring some market segments.

Relying on occupation, means that we are counting on specific industry people to come to our business, we may assume that these industries have high spending power or financial stability. However Ireland has experienced a high level of income uncertainty, this means that people resist the urge to spend, as investments now produce a high amount of risk.

Here are some well recognized hotels in Ireland, which have been categorized based on characteristics, facilities and cost.

Characteristics

location

Facilities

Price

Travelodge

Budget accommodation

Mainroads,Busy areas

Standard room’s

low

Shelburne

Sophistication and luxury

City center overlooking St. Stephens green park.

Event rooms, Spa and swimming pool, weddings.

high

City west Dublin

conference and leisure center

20 minutes from city and international airport

Conference and event rooms, Golf and Swimming pool

high

Hotel G Galway

Exclusive 5 star escape hotel

Overlooking Galway bay

Exclusive design, spa and swimming pool, cinema, board rooms and weddings.

high

Bewleys

Value for money, business and leisure

Convenient central hotels in major traffic areas in Dublin city

meeting and conference facilities,

Banqueting and event facilities in select hotels

medium

Morrison

hip and vibrant destination

Dublin city center banks of the River Liffey, near to temple bar quarter.

Fitness, meeting rooms, weddings, rooms and suites.

high

Jury’s Inn

Exceptional everyday city hotels.

Dublin city center

Conference rooms, fitness rooms low maintenance facilities.

medium

Sheraton

Well-presented hotel, facilitates Business and leisure hotel

Located in central Ireland, with intersecting Galway and Dublin motorway.

Executive Conference Centres, wedding receptions, rooms and suites

medium

As we can see from the above analysis of Irish hotels, there appear to be many different variables that relate to segmenting the Irish market. Although mostly all hotels relate to business related activities, example city west hotel, there is emerging trends that directly relate to lifestyle and social preference example Hotel G and Morrison’s.

This indicates that although occupation can be used as a variable to segment the Irish market, it should not overlook other means of segmenting. These may include lifestyle choices, gender ,education and location.

To analyze further, location will have a staple factor on where you decide to present your product in an occupation divided segment. Specific geographic regions such as Dublin will encounter more business activity than other parts of Ireland, while the west of Ireland focuses more on recreational and tourist activities. Therefore segmenting Ireland on the basis of occupation, may produce some grey areas and lifestyle activity which may be important, to be missed.

Irish television stations put a large focus on Irish heritage and family. Television adverts are unusually aired with focus being made to the women of the house, with children being focal points.

Consideration

At present the cost of doing business in Ireland has fallen in recent years, this is due to the fall in labor and rent costs. Rent prices in Dublin have fallen dramatically, once titled the 14th most expensive city in the world; it is now ranked at 42nd. If we think about how Ireland is now open to Europe as a place of business, there can be assumptions made that there may emerge a growing trend to segment further into occupation.

http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/Start-a-Business-in-Ireland/Startups-from-Outside-Ireland/Why-Locate-in-Ireland-/Six-Reasons-Your-Start-Up-Should-be-in-Ireland.pdf

Consideration

There is a 15.1% unemployment rate in Ireland. This means that considering occupation may not be viable and lifestyle, gender, age and location would be better sources of motivation in segmentation.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ireland/unemployment-rate

Depending on the business person who is being targeted in a particular profession, we should consider how people may not appreciate to being classed in a stereotypical manner.

This may encourage a disregard for the brand and the person may still consider it from time to time in an ill-mannered way.

Read more: Hotels Segmenting Strategies | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_6750502_hotels-segmenting-strategies.html#ixzz2NWjFHnT1

Read more: Types of Segmentation in Hotels | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_6369267_types-segmentation-hotels.html#ixzz2NWjulY77

"Hotel supply is dominated by the three-star segment, which holds a share of 46.3 per cent, followed by the four-star segment (40.4 per cent) The five-star segment accounts for just 7.8 per cent of the market and is dominated by international brands including Radisson Blu, Four Seasons, Westin, Conrad and Rennaissance, together with some well-established Irish hotels such as the Westbury and the Merrion." 14/3/2013

"A perception that the Dublin hotel market is past the bottom and now on an upwards trajectory, is continuing to fuel hotel international investor appetite." http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/commercial-property-and-construction/hotel-sector-remains-subdued-despite-some-dublin-investment-1.494828