Analysis of A Priori Defined Groups in Applied Market Research

Abstract

The "analysis of a priori defined groups" (Aaker et al. (1995)) is an important task of applied market research, e.g., with respect to consumer segmentation. Powerful tools for dealing with this kind of problems are provided by methods of discriminant analysis. A main objective of this paper is the investigation of both past and future importance of this "traditional" approach for analyzing a priori defined groups in applied market research.