Market
structure is the particular arrangement of market groups or segments from which
a company’s management target markets. Managers of housing construction
companies know that housing buyers a typically adults over 25 years of age,
usually with at least moderate income. Even among a group of prospective
buyers, not everyone will have the same preferences for prospective that will
have a particular need or want. Thus, the market is further divided into
different buyer groups, often called segments. Thus the housing market contains
distinct segments. The housing preferences of people who are married and have
young children at home are different from those of young, single people. The
housing preferences of older adults whose children have left home are different
from the preferences of either of these two groups. In this fashion, a market
structure is described that delineates the particular set of these market
groups or segments.