Friday, August 17, 2007

Segment v. Persona

There is a great deal of ambiguity surrounding the definition of a segment in the industry today. In my most recent research on online personalization, I recognize a need to differentiate between a segment and a persona.

My method of describing a segment is a non-emotional characterization of a subset of site visitors. Examples include: gender, geography, IP address, new visitor, returning visitor, etc.

Alternatively, a persona implies a deeper understanding of the site visitor based on psychographic characteristics. These may include: likes and dislikes, preferences, affinity towards certain products, etc.

Stay tuned for more to follow on segments...

Better yet, what's your definition?

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