Market Segmentation in the Film Industry Based on Genre Preference: the Case of Millennials

Abstract

One of the industries that has been hit the most by the Covid-19 is the film industry. Practitioners and experts in the field are in need to better understand the changed consumers and their new behaviour so that they can adequately communicate with them. The population segment which attracts the most attention are the Millennials due to the fact they have a high level of self-interest, they mix streaming services, and their purchase intention building is much slower compared to other generations. This study aimed to propose a segmentation approach in the film industry based on genre preference. To verify the proposed approach, an online survey on consumer habits and attitudes towards different elements of film marketing mix was conducted at the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown in Serbia. Upon that, biclustering algorithm was employed to segment the respondents. Finally, similarities and differences between retained segments were explored, which provided insights on which elements of film (elements of product, Word of Mouth, Frequency of consumption, and elements of promotion) respondents pay attention to based on their genre preference. The observed similarities and differences led to the creation of tailored communication strategies for each segment, which could improve the effectiveness of marketing activities in the film industry during the Covid-19 era, and could be extended in the post-Covid era.