Title: Gender-based behavioural segmenting of the cellphone youth market

Authors: Matti J. Haverila; Kai C. Haverila; Caitlin McLaughlin

Addresses: Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada ' Concordia University, Montreal, Canada ' Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the existence of behavioural segments (clusters) among youth regarding the cellphone communication market in Finland. Specific cellphone behaviours are used as a cluster variate. The cellphone behaviours used are: 'necessity of modern times', 'cost efficiency', 'safety/security', 'dependency', 'negatives' and 'functionality', per Aoki and Downes's (2003) research on cellphone use. Separate behavioural clusters were devised for both males and females on the basis of the behaviours. Four unique behavioural clusters among the male respondents ('middle of the road', 'feature freaks', 'all important', and 'minimalists') and three unique behavioural clusters among the female respondents ('dependents', 'advanced users', and 'cost matters') were detected. Each cluster had a unique group of benefits sought, with no overlapping clusters between genders. After these clusters were identified they were then profiled using age, gender and the behavioural variables as profilers. This research serves to help market researchers and cellphone producers alike better understand how and why cellphones are used in the youth marketplace.

Keywords: behavioural clusters; cellphone product-market; youth; gender differences.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2021.111914

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2021 Vol.23 No.1, pp.93 - 112

Received: 22 Nov 2018
Accepted: 27 Apr 2019
Published online: 21 Dec 2020 *

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