Unicist conceptual B2C segmentation is necessary when there are differentiated products or services, when there are innovations being proposed or when the business is developed in competitive environments.

Each value proposition has its functional concept -that drives the behavioral segmentation-, satisfies hard needs -that define the gravitational influence- and is focused on a life-style that works as a catalyst of the behavioral segment.

The Functionality of the Method

The discovery that the concepts people have in their long-term memory drive their actions and that the conceptual short-term memory triggers perception, drove marketing to a superior level.

Unicist Conceptual Marketing is on the one hand an approach to the concepts and fundamentals that underlie products/services and drive buying decisions. On the other hand, it is an approach to the roots of buying processes, which requires using the unicist conceptual segmentation to define operational customer profiles.

It uses commercial, semantic, semiotic and branding objects to influence buying decisions.

Unicist Conceptual Marketing

Buying decisions are driven by the concepts individuals have. That is why buying decision are driven by the instantaneous action of the Conceptual Short-Term Memory that use the information stored as a concept in the long-term memory. That is why conceptual segmentation is the starting point and the closing stage of any buying process.

Generically it can be said that the unicist approach to human behavior and communication is based on the fact that human actions are driven by the concepts they have. Therefore, any time an influential communication is posed, the “Conceptual Short-Term Memory” (CSTM) becomes activated to apprehend the “gist” of the message.

This apprehension is based on an instantaneous projection of the pre-concept individuals have in their long-term memory (LTM). Thus, individuals begin to access the message that is finally transformed into functional knowledge if the “gist” can be structured.

The knowledge of the fact that concepts work as behavioral objects, allowed defining a universal segmentation model for buying processes.

Behind any buying decision there is a “Hard” need that establishes the wide context, a Life-style that establishes the restricted context and a Behavioral Segmentation that is integrated by a conceptual, a functional and a psychological segmentation to define the target of a communication.

The Unicist Market Segmentation

Segmentation is necessary when there are differentiated products or services, when there are innovations being proposed or when the business is developed in competitive environments.

Each value proposition has its functional concept -that drives the behavioral segmentation-, satisfies hard needs -that define the gravitational influence- and is focused on a life-style that defines the catalyst of the behavioral segment. Here you will find a synthesis of this approach.

Unicist Structural Segmentation and Customer Profiles

This is a synthetic presentation of the unicist structural segmentation model that includes from the hard aspects of products and services to the deepest aspects of human behavior, transforming them into customer profiles.

From a conceptual point of view, human intelligence is defined as the individual’s capacity to produce information to develop strategies to adapt to the environment within which s/he lives.

The objective of the research on human behavior was to find its nature in order to be able to influence individuals, their evolution and the environment.

The researches allowed discovering the structural drivers that define the nature of human behavior and their functionality.

The understanding of the roots of human behavior allowed developing the segmentations that allow defining the profiles of the potential customers.

– The Hard Segmentation
– The Conceptual Segmentation
– The Functional Segmentation
– The Psychological Segmentation
– The Lifestyle Segmentation

The Hard Segmentation

The hard segmentation is the starting point of the unicist segmentation model. It defines the wide context (category) that allows influencing buyers’ decisions. Every product or service has its rational use value which defines the hard segmentation.

To manage this segmentation it is necessary to define the category of the product or service and its use value based on one´s experiences, if they exist, and comparing the product or service with substitutes and succedanea.

When the product is a breakthrough, then it can only be compared with a succedaneum and the definition of the hard segmentation will be guided by the development of destructive pilot tests.

After this segmentation has been defined, it works as a limit of the market and as an input to define the functional segmentation.

The Conceptual Segmentation

It is defined by the conceptual structure of the product and defines the attitude of the buyers.

It defines the fundamentals of a product. The conceptual market segmentation describes the nature of a product as it is perceived by the market.

Conceptual market segmentation describes the concept that is implicit in a product or service, which is based on its purpose, its procedure and its action guide.

The value proposition installs “suspicion” in the mind of the prospective buyers if the category does not fit into the pre-concepts they have.

The Functional Segmentation

It is defined by the benefits that are generated by the characteristics of a product. It defines the aesthetic of a product. Functionality is defined as the capacity of something to satisfy an individual’s need.

Functionality is homologous to aesthetics. When talking about functionality we refer to the perceived functionality.

A value proposition needs to fit into the necessary aesthetics to trigger the buying process of a segment. If not, the proposition is not perceived or is rejected.

The Psychological Segmentation

It is defined by the role of the product that defines the type of relationship the buyer establishes with it. It defines the bonds between buyers and the product.

An individual adapts to reality within subjective or objective limits. Psychology established the limits of individual contexts.

A value proposition needs to be positioned within the limits established by the psychological segmentation. If not, “doubts” are installed in the mind of the potential buyer and the buying process becomes inhibited.

The Life-style Segmentation

It is defined by the social role of the buyer in the environment including the ethical intelligence that defines the intention that underlies the use of the product.

It defines the necessary attributes of a brand. Lifestyle segmentation defines the restricted context of the functional, psychological and conceptual segmentations.

Life-style segmentation allows installing value propositions within the limits established by the collective intelligence of a culture. When it exceeds this limits the proposal becomes marginalized.

Unicist Customer Profiles

The unicist customer profiles allow focusing on specific segments of a market and expand through their influence on adjacent groups of potential customers. These profiles are built based on the unicist structural segmentation models that allow influencing buying decisions using commercial, semantic and semiotic objects. The objective of using the unicist profiling technology and the use of marketing objects is to increase sales.

B2C Unicist Object Driven Marketing:

The definition of Customer Profiles

The unicist logical approach to marketing allowed developing a profiling technology that allows beginning with the hard characteristics of a segment, integrating the functional, psychological, conceptual and lifestyle segmentations to define the customer profile that allows dealing with a segment based on predictors and observable characteristics.

The Unicist Object Driven Marketing Technology for B2C requires the definition of the different segments that integrate a market.

It has to be considered that each segment needs to be managed as an “independent” universe in terms or marketing, although it is interdependent with other segments.

This implies:

• Having the functional concepts that are defined by the operational attributes of the product/service.
• Having the psychological segmentation based on conceptual psychology that allows defining the relationship the buyer establishes with the product/service and the vendor.
• Having the essential attributes of the product/services that define the concept of the value proposition.
• Knowing the lifestyle, based on conceptual anthropology, that works as a limit for the value propositions.

Customer Profiles

The use of customer profiles begins with the approach to the segments that are natural buyers of a product/service and continuing the expansion based on the adjacency of segments.

This allows making an object driven approach based on the goodwill a value proposition includes and the proximity to the actual needs of the participants of a market.

Using Segmented Objects

The implementation of the use of profiles is extremely more effective when commercial, semantic and semiotic objects are used in the marketing process.

This requires covering the different functionalities of the marketing process.

These functionalities are covered by driving objects to guide the buying processes, inhibiting objects to avoid misjudgements, entropy inhibiting objects to sustain the buying process.

The catalyzing objects are used to accelerate decisions and to avoid doubts and the gravitational objects sustain the credibility of the entire marketing process.

• Gravitational Objects require using subliminal communication
• Catalyzing Objects require using ambiguous language
• Entropy Inhibiting Objects require using figurative language
• Inhibiting Objects require using analytical language
• Driving Objects require using operational language

Conclusion

The use of the unicist segmentation is meaningful in any proactive marketing activity. But it becomes necessary in supply driven markets and to market innovative solutions or differentiated value propositions. The unicist segmentation is necessary to define accurate profiles and to design the necessary objects that accelerate and ensure the marketing process.

Annex

Expert Systems to Sustain Methods

The unicist expert systems are alternative tools for any method that deals with business problem solving or solution building.

They were developed to manage the fundamentals of business processes by managing the root causes of processes to develop solutions in adaptive environments.

With multiple specialized modules to solve specific problems, these systems manage the unified field of the business processes to manage their functionality, dynamics and adaptability. 

Note: The R&D work of this technology/methodology was led by Peter Belohlavek at The Unicist Research Institute.

The Unicist Research Institute