ABSTRACT

The research involves an extensive investigation into the effect of market segmentation on customer satisfaction in the soft drink industry. The concept of market segmentation is fundamental to good marketing practice. For any company to assume that every person is a consumer or user of its product(s) is an attempt at economic suicide. Therefore, the major objective of this research is the adoption of market segmentation to achieve customer satisfaction using customer services as the strategic tool. The research also looks into the appraisal of product differentiation as the best alternative when there is difficulty in the market segmentation practice. Meanwhile, this research examined the problem of changes in the customer needs and wants which made it difficult in identifying, understanding, segmenting and targeting attractive market segments research process. In conducting this research, a sample size of 90 was used and the statistical technique used was chi-square in the process of hypothesis testing. It revealed that the practice of market segmentation benefited the company especially in the area of customer satisfaction. Also, the practice of product differentiation is not just the best alterative when there is difficulty in the practice of market segmentation, but helps in gaining competitive advantage. However, the researcher concluded that market segmentation as an important marketing strategy in the attainment of better customer satisfaction enhances effective and efficient customer services and recommend that the practice of market segmentation in an organization must be adopted so as to achieve better customer satisfaction which is the basics of the philosophy of marketing