A new research agenda for business segmentation

Since its conception over 60 years ago by Frederick in 1934, the concept of segmentation has gained increasing importance, in both the consumer and the business domains. Examination of research within the latter domain indicates that, although considerable amounts of research have been carried out, these efforts appear to focus on sub‐areas of segmentation such as the development of segmentation bases and models, at the expense of a more strategic view. This not only has resulted in a diffused understanding of the subject‐matter but also is posited to have slowed the progress of theory development and research in business segmentation. Presents a comprehensive conceptualisation of business segmentation in the form of an integrating framework of business segmentation, aimed at raising new research agendas which could lead to a better understanding of existing gaps between theory and implementation and better recommendations to practitioners and assisting further development of theory in business segmentation.