Mobile Communications Market Segmentation: An Analysis of Data Combining Self-organizing Maps and Structural Equation Modeling

Market segmentation is a vital part of an organization´s marketing because it provides a convenient way for the development of services, strategies and differentiated positioning. This study uses an approach that combines the Self-Organizing Maps of Kohonen (SOM) with the technique of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in the application of a segmentation issue in the Brazilian mobile marketing, one of the most competitive in the world. A model of satisfaction in mobile communications is used with the SEM to examine the moderation effects on customer segments. The results show that the combination of the techniques was found to be an adequate validation of the segmentation with structural models, being investigated various demographic, socioeconomic and behavioral factors of the customers. Furthermore, it was found that the moderating effect of the segmentation performed can affect the assessment of the overall satisfaction, especially the relationship with their background, quality, value and image.