12.   Segmenting and combining are two alternative approaches to developing market-oriented strategies. Which of the following statements concerning these approaches is true?

a)    Combiners treat each submarket as a separate target market.
The name says it all: if you combine, it means that you look at a few markets at the same time, so this answer cannot be right.

b)    Segmenters try to develop a marketing mix that will have general appeal to several market segments.
Replace the term "Segmenters" by "Combiners" and you will have the right answer.

c)    A combiner looks at various submarkets for similarities rather than differences.
Indeed, this is what a combiner looks for. This may happen when segments are too small or when the product is likely to appeal to a few segments and developing separate marketing mixes don't justify the costs associated with that. This is common in international marketing where some companies prefer to use one marketing mix to various countries, because the differences - cultural, in general - are not sufficiently deep to have separate marketing plans.

d)    A segmenter assumes that the whole market consists of a fairly homogeneous group of customers.
This is of course contrary to the segmentation approach.

e)    Both segmenters and combiners try to satisfy some people very well rather than a lot of people fairly well.
I don't think so.

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