What is meant by the term target market?

The term "target market" refers specifically to a group of consumers who share similar needs or characteristics that a business aims to serve with its products or services. Identifying a target market allows businesses to tailor their marketing efforts effectively, ensuring that their messaging and offerings resonate with the intended audience. This focus on a specific group rather than a broad or general audience enables companies to allocate resources more efficiently and increases the likelihood of satisfying those consumers' needs.

In contrast, the concept of a broad group of consumers refers to a larger and more generalized population, which does not provide the same level of marketing focus as a target market. Similarly, defining the target market as the entire consumer base of a company overlooks the importance of segmentation and specificity in marketing strategies. Lastly, demographic variables may describe certain attributes of a population, but they are tools used in the process of identifying a target market, not the definition of the market itself.