Segmentation
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Technology Segmentation: a tool for understanding and profiling your customers and prospects

When it comes to living with technology, we found four distinct schools of thought in the US, UK and Canada.

Techno
Elites:

Better living through technology

Pragmatic
Users:

Technology is a useful tool, but it's just a tool

Technology
Challenged:

Can't live without it, but can't quite keep up with the pace of change

Techno
Snails:

Late adopters who could easily live without technology

The diagram below provides a quick introduction to the segments by revealing where each segment stands on two key dimensions: new product adoption and role of technology in defining ones identity.

To learn more about each segment, click on the tab on the left with the segments name on it.

segmentation is interesting, but how do I use?
These four mindsets help you understand where your customers and prospects are in terms of their relationship with, and adoption of, new technology. This kind of profiling can be exceedingly useful if folded into your assessments of things like:

  • How is your brand positioned among those who are technology opinion leaders?
  • Which type of technology user does your new product concept appeal to most? What implications does that have for how you develop the products features?
  • Would a co-promotion with a technology company enhance your brand image or frighten our best customers?
  • How should you reach out to your customers? Are they comfortable with new technologies or are they behind the curve? How do they compare to the general public?

In other words, this segmentation can be a great tool for profiling your customers, and gaining insights into what they want and need.

How we found these segments

We surveyed 42,557 people on their attitudes toward technology, people who were part of our Springboard and Angus Reid Forum panels in the US, UK and Canada. We selected the key statements and then used cluster analysis to discover the patterns of answers that indicated different schools of thought or mindsets.