Consumer Behaviour
Assignment 1 (Case Analysis)

1. What is the nature of the market segment(s) served by AtlanticRider.com?
Atlanticrider.com describes itself as “Atlantic Canada's most comprehensive online resource for the horse enthusiast: news, events, classifieds, forum, and directory!” Its market comprises primarily horse owners, along with the people who work with, ride and love horses. In terms of the demographics of the market segment AtlanticRider.com is targeting, the bulk of horse owners are mature adults aged between 40-50. This is the most frequent age to own a horse for two main reasons: this age group is more able to afford the cost of owning/maintaining a horse compared to younger generations and people between 40-50 are still physically fit, able to ride a horse, unlike the majority of the older generations. Also the majority of horse owners are women (77% of the market). Horses may be for personal use or use by children or other family members, however AtlanticRider is targeting primarily owners since this segment has the financial resources of interest to advertisers selling horses, horse gear or services. Most horse riders in Canada live in rural areas, e.g. Saskatchewan, BC, and Alberta. These provinces are filled with mountains and nature, which align with a horse’s natural habitat, more than provinces like Ontario and Quebec, although these provinces also have forests and open land. Further, the cost of owning, sheltering and taking care of horses is much less expensive in rural areas, compared to urban areas such as Toronto –due to the availability and cost of land. Compared to the segment targeted in Atlantic Canada, a comparable web site in Toronto would target the very wealthy classes.

To which VALS(Value Attitude and Lifestyle) group(s) would the typical AtlanticRider.com member fit? When you think about the typical horseback