Target Population – Definition and Examples

In this article, you will learn about what is target population, the definition of the target population, and a few examples of the target population to understand the concept better.

Definition`

Target population can be defined as the target audience who have similar characteristics, likings, and preferences for your business efforts such as advertising, marketing, or research. This segment of the population out of the entire universe makes the target population for your business.

It is one of the essential tasks for a company to determine the right audience for their product or business. The success of your marketing and advertising efforts becomes more precise if you know the people who will be more likely to buy your product.

Therefore, companies spend a lot of time and effort to determine the target audience for their products.

What is target population?

The target population is referred to as the target audience and it is a group of people who have similar characteristics and preferences that makes them different from the whole population of the world.

Several important decisions of a business, such as the production of a product, amount of production, advertising efforts, etc. depending on the identification of the target population. The companies use market segmentation strategies to identify their target population.

To create a business opportunity, a company first identifies the needs and requirements of a particular segment of the population which can be the target population. It creates a product that satisfies the specific needs and requirements of that segment of the population. That segment of the population is known as the target population of the product. All of a company’s business efforts would be to influence the target population.

Let us consider the target population of a company is a group of single men living in metro cities away from their families. To serve the group of people, the company is required for similar needs of the segment of the population. This can be done with the help of market segmentation. By using this strategy, the company can identify its initial target population and can direct their market research to determine the distinctive needs of each segment of the population. In this way, they can deploy different strategies to reach each of them.

Examples

1. The first example of the target population is the population segmentation by the Nestle company. Nestle company targeted the health-conscious college-going and working youngsters who want a quick solution to their hunger pangs while they are away from home. Therefore, they introduced Yes bar a nutritious and delicious healthy snack bar. That they can easily carry and can use it as a substitute for unhealthy fast food.
2. The second example of a target population of Apple’s smartwatch. Apple targeted the people who are really health conscious and want to take account of their daily physical activities. Therefore, they introduced the Apple smartwatch mainly focused on people who want to take care of their health.