Ch. 8 - Segmenting and Targeting Markets

Looking at our company, Delta Airlines, I found that the male-female ratio of their consumers is almost equal at 52.3% female and 47.7% male with index numbers of 101 and 99 respectively. This statistic holds true to the competitor’s data. When I looked at regional statistics I found that 44.6% of Delta’s customers live in the Southern region, 20.4% live in the Northeast region, 19.4% in the Western region and 15.7% live in the Midwest region. It is important to note that this data was prior to the Delta-Northwest merger. This is likely due to the fact that Delta Airlines is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Hubs have the tendency to give consumers more options for non-stop flights which is a preferred method to travel. On the other hand, since one airline may operate the majority of the gates at a hub, consumers have limited options from other airlines. With fewer choices consumers may become loyal users of Delta. Simmons data shows that people of the South have an index value of 122 which further supports that they would become “brand” loyal to Delta.

Delta has continued pursuing the Millennial market, which are people aged 16-34 years old. According to Marketrealist.com the future of airline travel will be dominated by the millennial by 2020. Millennials make up 25.9% of the population as of 2016 and contribute to $44 billion in revenue to our economy. They are known to be the most educated, diverse and technology-proficient generation ever.