Market segmentation involves dividing a market into distinct groups of customers with distinct needs, characteristics, or behaviors who might require separate products or marketing mixes. The key benefits are identifying new product opportunities, designing effective marketing programs for homogeneous groups, and improving resource allocation. Segments must be identifiable, accessible, responsive to different offers, large enough to target, and stable over time. Common bases for segmentation include geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral factors such as age, gender, income, lifestyle, customer behavior, and usage occasions.