Does a prop act like an eVar when used in a Visit-level segment?

It really depends on what you are doing… while I would never say that the prop “works” like an “eVar”, since that isn’t really accurate (eVars persist the value until the expiry is hit, props exist solely on at “HIT” scope.), how the segment is crafted is going to be the determining factor if you can return the same set of data.

A simple example with a Prop and a VISIT level eVar:

• Page 1
  • Prop1 set to “value”
  • eVar1 set to “value”
• Page 2
  • Prop1 not set, no value
  • eVar1 not set, value remains “value” due to persistence
• Page 3
  • Prop1 not set, no value
  • eVar1 not set, value remains “value” due to persistence
• Order
  • Prop1 not set, no value
  • eVar1 not set, value remains “value” due to persistence

Now, let’s look at Segments.

Let’s use a simple Segment.

Segment 1

VISIT [

     Prop1 equals “value”

]

and

Segment 2

VISIT [

     eVar1 equals “value”

]

Both of these will return all the above page and the order, since the segment is pulling back ALL the hits in a visit that match the criteria. This works because only one match within the visit is required (ANY hit with “value” within the visit will return all hits in the visit). So, in a way yes, by looking at a simple segment, they work the same… but a more complex segment may not work as expected.

Example 1:

VISIT [

     (dimension) equals “value”

     AND

     Page2 exists

]

Example 2:

VISIT [

     HIT Container [

          (dimension) equals “value”

          AND

          Page2 exists

    ]

]

Example 1 will still return all the pages for both prop or eVar, since each of those checks are independent of one another. At the VISIT scope, the check is looking for Prop1 to have “value” which it does on Page 1 and then it’s also looking for the visit where Page 2 exists, which is does.

In Example 2, only the eVar variant will work. The addition of the HIT container, locking the value of the dimension with a specific page, means only visits with the combination of “value” AND Page22 together will be returned, and that means only the eVar variation  will work, because only the eVar will persist the value into Page 2…

In short, the prop and the eVar don’t “behave” or “act” like one another.. the data those dimensions contain are still exactly as they were configured. However, for the sake of returning data via a segment, knowing where the data will exist and if the data persists, and how long the data persists, etc. is key to creating those segments. 

While I need to finish my Segment series for perspectives, this article might help you understand segment logic a bit more:

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/perspectives/the-magic-behind-the-curtain-complex-segments

This video as well: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/on-demand-events/segmentation