Reflection on Levitt’s Marketing Myopia and Yankelovich’s New Criteria for market segmentation

In his Marketing Myopia, Levitt explains that a successful industry focuses on their customers’ needs rather than selling their product. For instance, he believes that the oil industry is convinced that there is no competitive substitute for gasoline, or if there is that it will continue to be a derivative of crude oil. However, more than a dozen non-petroleum companies are working on advanced model systems which may, in future, replace the internal combustion engine and eliminate the demand for gasoline and the need to refuel.

Yankelovich suggests that demography is not always the best way of looking at markets. He uses automobiles as an example. People purchase cars based upon either where the biggest savings can be found, where they can buy the best product for what they can afford, or for the personal satisfaction of owning a fine car. Some customers will be loyal to Chevrolet, for example, and will only buy from them. Others may have just preferred the style of the Chevrolet or got a good deal but they could have just as easily purchased another make. Whereas some customers may be predisposed to Chevrolet but they can be persuaded by purchase another make if the persuasion is strong enough. Competitors must try to break through the Chevrolet predisposition.