Final answer:
Firms that manufacture seasonal products primarily use occasion segmentation to target consumers, aligning their marketing strategies to specific times when their products are in demand, such as holidays or events. The correct answer is option d.
Step-by-step explanation:
Firms that manufacture seasonal products target their consumers primarily through occasion segmentation. Occasion segmentation is a marketing strategy where businesses focus on specific occasions that drive consumer behavior to purchase certain products. For example, firms producing Halloween costumes will intensify their marketing efforts as October approaches. Similarly, makers of Christmas decorations would focus on the end-of-the-year festive season to promote their merchandise.
Unlike psychographic segmentation which considers consumer lifestyles and values, or demographic segmentation that groups consumers based on variables like age and gender, occasion segmentation specifically addresses temporal conditions that incentivize consumer purchases.
This has become a critical strategy in the firms in the goods market, ensuring that products are positioned attractively to consumers when they are most likely to buy them. Additionally, while income segmentation might focus on a consumer's earning capacity, and age and life-cycle segmentation targets specific age groups or life stages, these methods are not as focused on the timing of consumer purchases as occasion segmentation is.