The historical development of segmentation: the example of the German book trade 1800‐1928

Purpose – Using the German book trade as a case example, the aim of the paper is to show how the evolution of segmentation began with increasingly sophisticated marketing practice long before formal thought was developed to explain matters. Design/methodology/approach – The paper's approach is a careful and critical examination of exclusively primary sources. Findings – Marketing practice developed increasingly sophisticated segmentation over the 100 years before there was formal marketing thought about it. Marketing thought developed in part because the growth of universities stimulated the development of formal disciplines, and in part because businesspeople wanted to accelerate learning what they should do to grow their businesses. Originality/value – The paper is based on an in‐depth examination of one of the first businesses to adopt aggressive marketing.