Content Type:

Glossary

Share Print

Percentile Definition

A value on the scale of 100 that indicates the percent of a distribution that is equal to or below it.

A percentile is a statistical measure that indicates the value below which a given percentage of observations in a dataset fall. For example, the 75th percentile means that 75% of the values are below that point. In marketing research, percentiles help compare performance, rank consumer behavior and identify distribution patterns.

What are the key aspects of a percentile in marketing research?

• Ranks data by dividing it into 100 equal parts.
• Useful for analyzing data distribution.
• Helps identify outliers and extreme values.
• Commonly used in performance benchmarking.
• Supports customer segmentation based on behavior or value.
• Does not assume a normal distribution.

Why are percentiles important in market research?

Percentiles provide context for individual data points within a broader dataset. They help marketers understand how a customer, product or region compares to others, identify high- or low-performing segments and track progress against industry or internal benchmarks.

Who relies on a percentile in marketing research?

• Market analysts comparing campaign performance.
• Customer insights teams segmenting audiences.
• Data scientists analyzing behavioral distributions.
• Brand managers benchmarking KPIs.
• Executives identifying top- or bottom-tier markets.

How do market researchers use percentiles?

Market researchers use percentiles to interpret where a particular observation falls within a distribution. For example, they might use the 90th percentile to identify top spenders in a loyalty program or analyze satisfaction scores across service regions to spot underperforming areas. Percentiles are also helpful in tracking key performance metrics like click-through rates or purchase frequencies, providing context beyond simple averages. By using percentiles, researchers gain a clearer view of data spread and can more accurately define thresholds for targeting, segmentation or improvement strategies.