Segmenting Notebook PC market based on life style (The case of Ferdowsi University students)

This study is aimed to segment the Notebook PC market using VALS life style and to find out the differences between these segments. Vals specifically defines the consumer segments based on personality traits influencing the market behaviors.According to Vals, consumers are divided to eight categories not only based on psychological variables, but also income, education level, buying demands, and some other factors.Life style and values are determinant factors of consumer's decision-making. This study seeks to identify different segments of Notebook PC market and specify the requirements of each segment.To do this, we designed a written questionnaire, distributed 400 questionnaires between the students of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, and collected 308 ones. The final response rate after eliminating five non-eligible questionnaires was 77%. For data analyzingand answering the research questions, descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The results indicated that each market segment requires different features and requirements as for its psychological attributes. At the end, research limitations were enumeratedand some suggestions for future studies were made.