Behavioural segmentation divides the market into groups based on their knowledge, attitudes, uses and responses to the product.

The following are commonly applied behavioural segments

1. OccasionsGroups individuals according to the occasions when they purchase, use or think of buying a product.

2. Benefits SoughtGroups individuals according to the benefits they seek from the product.

3. Usage RateGroups individuals according to the level of usage they make of the product, be it Heavy, Medium or Light usage.

4. User StatusGroups individuals according to wether they are non-users, potential users, first-time users, regular users, or ex-users of a product

5. Loyalty StatusGroups individuals according to their level of loyalty to the product. 'Hard core loyals' always purchase the product / brand in question. Whilst 'Soft core loyals' will sometimes purchase another brand, and 'Switchers' will not specifically seek out a particular brand, but rather purchase the brand available to them at time of need, or that which was on sale.

6. Buyer Readiness StageGroups individuals according to their readiness to purchase the product. This segmentation model is particularly useful in formulating and monitoring the marketing communication strategies employed to move consumers towards purchase of a product or brand.

   Stages in Buyer-Readiness
   Stage		Description
   Awareness		At the launch of a new product, the target market may not even be aware that the product exists, even established products seeking to enter new segments of the market may need to raise awareness of both their company and their product. The now infamous Benetton promotion campaigns had as one of their objectives, raising awareness of the Benetton brand, and what ever you think of the methods the company used, the fact remains that Benetton became one of the 5 most recognised brands in the world.
   Knowledge		The audience may well be aware of a product or company, but still have either very little knowledge of what the product or company does, or possibly worse have the wrong impression of both the product and company. Daewoo when it first entered the UK Car Market, had to go about educating the target market about both its products and the company itself, early promotional material therefore informed the audience about the size, history and strength of the company.
   Liking		Knowing about a company or product does not mean the audience will necessarily like either, they may well be ambivalent, have no feeling at all, or even dislike the product. An audience with knowledge of a product must therefore be moved to the stage of liking the product. Promotion must seek to develop a positive attitude towards the product, or if market research identifies a poor product image in the market, promotion must seek to address these issues within its promotional campaign. IKEA addressed head-on the target markets concerns, that much of their furniture has to be assembled after purchase, and that there are limited staff available on the shop floor, cleverly turning what the audience may well have originally perceived as negatives into positives of shopping at IKEA.
   Preference		Given the level of competition in markets today, it is often the case that the potential customer will like several competing products on the market, promotion must now therefore seek to develop within the audience a preference for their product. Through research the business must establish the key features of the product in the eyes of the target market, these might include efficiency, performance, economy, value, and quality. Promotion will now therefore underline the advantages of the product in terms of these key features, which differentiate it from the competition.
   Conviction		An audience which prefers a particular product, may still not buy that product based on pure preference. In fact many customers will purchase a competitors product which they did not prefer purely because they were convinced it was the right decision at that time. Promotion must now build confidence in the audience that their preference for the product is justified, and convince them through a range of promotion tools including for example the use of positive press reviews, and expert recommendations that their product is the right one to buy.
   Purchase		The last stage in buyer-readiness is purchase of the product, unfortunately conviction to buy may still not result in actual purchase, this may for example be due to the individuals current financial situation. Many customers will need further persuasion to make the purchase. Promotion may offer Sales Promotion discounts, or Personal Selling through Sales Representatives, in order to convert preference and conviction into a sale.