Market segmentation of South African adolescent girls and young women to inform HIV prevention product marketing strategy: A mixed methods study

Abstract

The uptake of and adherence to HIV prevention products in South Africa has not achieved widespread success. This study aimed to develop a holistic understanding of the psychographics of adolescent girls and young women in South Africa, a primary audience for HIV prevention products, in order to inform market segmentation and marketing strategies. Extensive ethnographic analyses were complemented with a survey (n = 1,500) centered on personal care product journeys. Clustering and qualitative methods yielded six segments with measurable differences, and revealed common themes surrounding empowerment and self-determination, patriarchy, and misinformation risk. The findings enable targeted approaches for HIV prevention product campaigns.

Keywords:

• Adolescent girls and young women
• Africa
• ethnography
• HIV prevention
• market segmentation
• public health
• social marketing

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. James Cummins for his invaluable assistance in all aspects of this project and helpful comments throughout the manuscript preparation. The authors also acknowledge the contributions of the Kantar team, which conducted the studies and performed the segmentation analyses, with thanks to Greg Classen who led the segmentation analysis, and Amien Ahmed for his program management. We also thank the numerous research participants who offered their valuable perspectives.

Disclosure statement

The authors K.C., M.D., G.G., J.P., F.V., R.A. have no conflict of interest to declare. The authors L.B., K.I., and D.N. declare they are employed by Kantar, a commercial market research firm. Given the article discusses the importance of using ethnographic and quantitative techniques in marketing research, we make this declaration. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by federal funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, through the following task orders under Contract No. HHSN272201600008I: HHSN27200006, HHSN27200009, and HHSN27200015.