Market Segmentation and Apartheid Available to Purchase

South African marketing data are recorded by the government's official racial classifications. There is superficial evidence from consumer media statistics that such racially‐based segmentation is no longer valid. Closer inspection shows, however, that media usage is racially segmented. Nevertheless there is a distinct tendency towards homogenisation of purchasing behaviour patterns (of non‐durables) and ownership patterns (of durables) which taken together provide novel information for marketers in multi‐ethnic societies.