Estimation of Mexican Market Segments (MEMS) Comparison of Alternative Strategies for Segment Definition

Abstract

In 1991, the Center for International Business and Environment Studies (CIBES) surveyed the Mexican market, making available appropriate data for the present study of the Mexican Market Segments (MEMS). This study followed the customary technique for defining market segments: that is to cluster a battery of psychographic variables. The goal is the recovery of clearly defined, distinctly separated clusters. However, this goal can be hampered by “noisy” variables which do not contribute to, and may actually mask, the underlying cluster structure.