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The aim of this paper is to propose an approach to international market segmentation that identifies meaningful cross‐national consumer segments, which focuses on airline passengers in the NAFTA market.

A conjoint analysis is used to evaluate consumers' preferences for six flight attributes: price, in‐flight service, number of stops before destination, on‐time performance, frequent flyer programme, and country of airline. A cluster analysis based on the relative importance scores of each of the six flights attributes then identifies five segments that prioritize similar product attributes within each country.

A representative sample of 4,787 airline passengers from the three countries reveal that price is the most important attribute for consumers from the USA and Canada, while on‐time performance is the most important attribute for Mexican consumers. A cluster analysis identifies five segments that prioritize similar product attributes within each country. It is also found that there are five cross‐national consumer segments in the NAFTA market that are homogeneous in terms of consumer preferences but heterogeneous in terms of relative group size and demographic variables.

The study is based on a purposive sample, which limits the ability to generalize to the whole population with any known degree of precision.

The research produces practical operational information on each segment that is translatable into strategy, specifically in terms of positioning, promotion, and targeting of the airline service.

The paper sheds light on the nature of cross‐national segmentation in the NAFTA air passengers market and the resulting cross‐national segmentation will be highly relevant for international marketing management.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to international tourism market segmentation research by proposing a comprehensive framework that examines behavioral, benefits and lifestyle segmentations. The moderating roles of geographic segmentation (nationality) and advertising media types are also discussed.

Tourists volunteered to participate in a self-administered survey at random during peak seasons. Total number of collected questionnaires was 966. The authors used WarpPLS 6.0 software to analyze data.

Results from a sample of 919 tourists show that tourists in the benefit segmentation cluster had intentions to revisit the destination but they were unlikely to recommend it to others. Another finding indicates that marketing campaigns on different advertising media types might have different results when targeting different activities.

Leaning on the foundations of the marketing literature and the market segmentation theory, this research attempts to create a theoretical contribution that can be used to segment international tourists based on their travel motivations. Additionally, this study highlights the power of conditional probability approach, as it could be of more value than the predominant path coefficient approach.

By standardizing the marketing effort over similar worldwide segments and differentiating it across dissimilar worldwide segments, the international marketing manager is able to reap the advantages of both standardization and customization. The choice of the variables by which to segment the global market is crucial. Traditionally, purely environmental bases (geographic, political, economic, and cultural) were used as bases for international market segmentation. Proposes that international marketers group relevant markets based on both environmental as well as marketing management bases. The marketing management bases are classified as: (1) product‐related; (2) promotion‐related; (3) price‐related; and (4) distribution‐related. Derives number of propositions with direct implications for international marketing strategy and segmentation with respect to these bases. Highlights the managerial implications of the variables encompassed by these bases. Proposes the empirical investigation of the derived propositions as a research agenda for the future.

The purpose of this paper is to present a two‐stage international market selection and segmentation model addressed to help decision makers such as foreign institutions and market‐seeking multinational enterprises (MNEs) identify and select the most suitable European countries and groups of consumers.

The first stage is conceived as a macro‐segmentation screening process based on market attractiveness. The second is a micro‐segmentation process addressed to identify which groups of people are most similar across Europe in terms of social and personal values. The authors' model is rooted in previous assumptions and findings from international market selection (IMS) and Inglehart's theory of material and post‐material values.

The model is applied to the current 27 European Union (EU) member states and is validated through the groups of countries empirically obtained. The model allows us to cluster the European countries by market attractiveness, group the European consumers by personal and social values and describe the value orientation of the resulting clusters.

The authors used cross‐sectional data to validate their model. Among the implications, they encourage international marketing and business scholars to make use of Inglehart's framework.

Institutional decision makers and market‐seeking MNEs can follow or adapt the prescribed model in order to identify the most promising and similar European countries and groups of consumers. Public policy makers can gain an in‐depth understanding of specific personal and social values allowing them to shape public policy agendas.

This paper contributes to the existing literature on IMS and segmentation in three ways: it proposes an original and parsimonious two‐stage IMS and segmentation integrative model for both country‐level and consumer‐related analyses (suitable to handle and reduce the European diversity that decision makers have to face when dealing with the general public or consumer products); it applies theoretically grounded general segmentation bases and an alternative established framework of consumer values (Inglehart's value system), and it adopts an updated and pan‐European perspective over the enlarged EU.

Proposes that the concept of this study regarding market segmentation is at least as applicable to international marketing as to domestic marketing. States the three‐fold purpose is: highlight the nature and importance of international segmentation; to suggest an operational approach; and to review briefly some of the possible bases for segmenting international markets. Concludes that research should be direct not only towards identifying the relevant country and customer characteristics but also towards evaluating cost and benefits anticipated from segmenting on a given base.

This paper aims to investigate the influence of economic and cultural factors, separately and combined, on international country segments and to reveal the stability of factors and country segments over time.

Principal component analysis is used to develop three economic factors and two cultural factors borrowed from the World Value Survey. Cluster analysis is used to form country clusters based on the economic and cultural factors, separately, and then combined, to detect whether both economics and culture need to be included as bases for macro-country segmentation. Further, the authors look at these issues across time, the beginning of the decade (1990) and then at the end of the decade (1999).

Results support the hypotheses that economics and culture are both necessary for country-level segmentation but reject the hypothesis of cultural convergence as a consequence of technological development and industrialization. The authors confirm that cultural values and beliefs, although persistent, may change gradually under the influence of environmental forces such as economic development. The results support the instability of country segment membership when analyzed over one decade. Economic changes in some countries lead to their movement across segments.

Results suggest that managers concerned with international segmentation should include both economic and cultural variables and reevaluate country segment membership continuously rather than relying on results obtained in a single period.

Many international segmentation studies have used macro-level, secondary data to identify country clusters based on similarities in political, economic, geographic or cultural variables for a single period. This study extends existing international segmentation models by examining economic and cultural variables (separately, and then combined), and segment membership over time.

Despite the differences among Arab markets (e.g. market size, per capita income, etc.), the existence of numerous important commonalities among the region’s consumers may encourage marketers to adopt across the region’s countries a more integrated marketing strategy based on the principle of market segmentation. For that purpose, the present article proposes a conceptual framework of international market segmentation. The conceptual framework is then tested and supported by empirical research. The results show the existence of a number of thriving consumer segments that transcend national boundaries and which share similar needs and preferences. The findings indicate that in order to approach Arab markets with more efficient marketing strategies, multinationals are requested to standardize their marketing plans to each segment while differentiating their strategies among the different segments. By applying such an approach, the decision maker will be able to identify the relevant marketing variables that may affect consumer decisions and hence know what he must do in order to cater to selected market segments.

This study introduces a hybrid approach to segmentation of global markets. It examines an integrated inventory of macro‐ and micro‐bases associated with segmentation of world markets. The paper calls for a universal perspective on market segmentation to aid global marketers in identifying similarities across national boundaries while assessing within‐country differences. The main conclusion of this research is augmentation of the argument that a hybrid/universal market segmentation strategy should serve as the conceptual link and action mechanism that provides substance and rationale to striking a trade‐off between the two indispensable global strategy ends of standardization and adaptation. This balanced relationship can only be created when focus is devoted to building brand equity through emphasizing a global consumer orientation.

The purpose of this paper is to examine empirically the relationship between positioning strategies and bases of segmentation in international markets.

A principal component analysis was conducted to determine the major macro‐ as well as micro‐bases of segmentation that are linked with strategic positioning decision options. Further, a regression analysis was used to examine the effect of each of the segmentation bases on the different strategic positioning options used by segmentation managers.

This study suggests the combined use of both macro‐ and micro‐bases of segmentation in order to leverage similar strategic positioning across global markets. However, micro‐bases of segmentation are suggested for firms seeking differential positioning strategies.

The conceptual and empirical findings of this study pave the way for embarking on promising and relevant future research that is needed to substantiate and enrich the academic understanding and managerial practice of linking global segmentation with strategic positioning decisions. Future research should focus on the use of hybrid segmentation strategies; its logical design; implementation issues; and its evaluation mechanism.

This study provides specific empirical evidence of the relationship between strategic use of segmentation bases and strategic positioning. An effective use of the proposed framework will have various strategic marketing implications for firms; including cost efficiencies, opportunities to transfer products globally, expansion opportunities of current operation, and development of more effective brand management decisions.

The proposed global strategic segmentation and positioning matrix is a new tool that guides managers to position their brands effectively in world markets.

This paper aims to examine the conceptual as well as empirical linkages between segmentation bases and brand positioning strategies in the context of discussing practical implications for firms operating in increasingly globalizing markets.

This paper empirically examines an inventory of market segmentation factors in relation to four global strategic positioning decision options.

The two studies reported suggest that a combined use of macro and micro‐bases to segment world markets is significantly linked to the perceived positioning strategies of global top brands, whereas firms seeking more localized positioning strategies use only micro‐bases to segment.

The conceptual and empirical findings reported in this paper pave the way for embarking on promising and relevant future research that is needed to substantiate and enrich the academic understanding and managerial practice of segmentation and strategic brand positioning decisions in world markets.

This paper is unique in identifying a link between global brand positioning and segmentation factors.