Vector Research has pioneered the use of segmentation in social markets. A sophisticated segmentation of black and minority ethnic communities was undertaken for a large local authority – which built upon the work of Scottish agency Scott Porter. The model which was developed implied that intervention purely by ethnic group may well be an inefficient use of resources – and has since been applied to the learning and skills arena.

Indeed segmentation is the key to future growth in public and social sector markets. In one  instance collage formed a highly effective basis for a segmentation of the demand for Higher Education conducted by a Midlands university. The clear evidence of drivers of demand and other social and ethnic factors enabled a model to be developed which will be tested via robust quantitative analysis using multi-variate techniques.