in the 1990s, information and communication technologies have emerged as a central focus and defining force in a wide range of occupations and lifestyles.
Accordingly, market researchers realized the need for a segmentation scheme based on the role that technology plays in consumers' lives.
Technographic segmentation was developed to measure and categorize consumers based on their ownership, use patterns, and attitudes toward information, communication and entertainment technologies.
It was elaborated upon in the article "Segmenting VCR Owners" published in the Journal of Advertising Research.
The article suggested that the profiling of technology consumers "should be based on an amalgam of variables which might best be referred to as 'technographic'... which focuses on the motivations, usage patterns, attitudes about technology... as well as measures of a person's fundamental values and lifestyle perspective.