Computerized target marketing in dentistry: a personal view

As anxiety over dental treatment diminishes and the mode of its provision changes, the recipient will exercise much greater judgement in choosing both provider and treatment modality. Similarly, the dentist will seek a segment of the community whose needs can be met and with whom there will be personal affinity. Segmented target marketing aims to match the professional and personal attributes of the dentist with a compatible population group. The computer is an essential tool in the process. A computer-based approach to market segmentation is presented.