International market segmentation is vital and different from domestic

With the expansion of world economy, there are so many enterprises occur around the globe. Simultaneously, the business competition among them is becoming more and more intensely and consumers are also diverse in needs and wants. Thus, the exact market segmentation is absolutely essential for business success and market gains. The globalization forces now at work push many companies to extend or reorganize their marketing strategies across borders and target international segments of customers. It is the basic premise of this paper that the concept of market segmentation is at least as applicable to international marketing as to domestic marketing. Segmentation research is however much more complicated, and to a large extent a neglected area of study in both international companies and universities. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, two-fold: first to highlight the nature and importance of international market segmentation; secondly, to review briefly some of the possible bases for segmenting international markets.