Abstract
Background: The business world has long recognized the power of defining discrete audiences within a target population. However, market segmentation's full potential has not been applied to the public health context. While some broad elements of market segmentation (e.g., age, geography) are considered, a nuanced look at behavioural and psychographic segmentation, which could greatly enhance the possibility of lasting behaviour change, is often missing. Segmentation, and the associated mindset which acknowledges the multi-dimensional differences between people, allows service providers, implementers, policymakers, and government officials to target initiatives and lead to a greater likelihood of lasting behavioural change. This paper investigates what segmentation is, how it has been applied to voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC), how it can be applied in development, and the challenges in both measuring and adopting segmentation as part of program design. Methods: We performed a detailed search of peer-reviewed literature using PubMed, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and the abstract directories of the International AIDS Society (IAS) published between January 2015 and September 2018. We also accessed articles from business databases such as the Harvard Business Review. Results: Results from a VMMC-focused intervention that successfully designed and delivered segmentation-based programs in two countries demonstrated that it is possible to adapt private sector approaches. However, within the sector of global development that is most familiar with segmentation, these efforts rarely go beyond basic demographic segments. Conclusions: Existing published material tends not to measure the impact of segmentation itself, but the impact of the intervention to which segmentation was applied, which makes it challenging for the development sector to invest in the approach without evidence that it works. Nonetheless, the experiences of segmentation and demand creation for VMMC do highlight the opportunity for better integrating this approach in HIV prevention and in global development and measurement initiatives.
Highlights
Defining discrete audiences within a target population is a marketing approach used widely in the commercial world, where strong understanding of a consumer segment is directly tied to profits
Using the example of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC), this paper shows how segmentation has been applied in development and discusses the challenges in both measuring and adopting segmentation as part of program design
Our findings indicate that market segmentation has, to date, most often been applied to global health fields that function for profit and, as such, tend to view their clients as customers, with preferences to discover and cater to, rather than as patients with needs that are often assumed to be homogenous within a broadly defined population, such as by diagnosis or perceived need
Summary
Defining discrete audiences within a target population is a marketing approach used widely in the commercial world, where strong understanding of a consumer segment is directly tied to profits. A set of criteria are typically used to define a segment – to identify individuals who share those characteristics – and those who do not fit that segment’s criteria fall into a different segment The value of these segments is to have clear characteristics associated with a set of marketing approaches and, in turn, to drive quantifiable outcomes[3]. Conclusions: Existing published material tends not to measure the impact of segmentation itself, but the impact of the intervention to which segmentation was applied, which makes it challenging for the development sector to invest in the approach without evidence that it works. The experiences of segmentation and demand creation for VMMC do highlight the opportunity for better integrating this approach in HIV prevention and in global development
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