Practice question - Psychographics PDF

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Describe the concept of psychographics. Then compare the four forms of psychographic analysis used in marketing. (25 marks) Psychographics is a type of consumer behaviour study that adds psychological, sociological and anthropological factors (i.e. variables) to traditional demographic analysis (i.e. age, gender, social class, income etc). Psychographic studies aim to identify groups of consumers according to their personalities, tastes, attitudes and interests. The 4 psychographic forms are: (1) Lifestyle profile that aims to separate consumers groups by product choice. For example, consumers who buy energy drink and who doesn’t. (2) Product-specific profile first identifies a group of consumers then separate this group by product attributes. For example, runners that will be split into 3 groups by the type of trainers they buy: (a) maximum support, (b) structured cushioned and (c) neutral trainers. (3) General lifestyle segmentation: aim to separate consumer groups by their preference. For example, their taste in clothes; sport activities, hobbies etc. (4) Product-specific segmentation: aim to separate consumer groups by their perception about a product category. For example, consumers who play video games (a) to escape reality, (b) for the adventure and (c) to keep an active mind. It is important to know the VALS definition and its use. Meaning you need to be able to explain with your own words what is VALS and how this type of psychographic segmentation is used to identify and segment consumers groups. The United Kingdom example well illustrates how VALS works therefore it is useful. Again, you need to understand and not memorizing it. VALS is a type of psychographic segmentation. (Solomon et al., 2016:221-22): “Psychographic segmentation typologies Marketers are constantly on the lookout for new insights that will allow them to identify and reach groups of consumers that are united by a common lifestyle. To meet this need, many research companies and advertising agencies have developed their own lifestyle segmentation typologies which divide people into segments. Respondents answer a bat- tery of questions that allow the researchers to cluster them into a set of distinct lifestyle groups. The questions usually include a mixture of AIOs, plus other items relating to their perceptions of specific brands, favourite celebrities, media preferences and so on. These systems are usually sold to companies wanting to learn more about their customers and potential customers. At least at a superficial level, many of these typologies are fairly similar to one another, in that a typical typology breaks up the population into roughly five to ten segments. Each cluster is given a descriptive name, and a profile of the ‘typical’ member is provided to the client. Categories in this system include such segments as ‘avant-gardians’ (interested in change), ‘pontificators’ (traditionalists, very British), ‘chameleons’ (follow the crowd) and ‘sleep-walk- ers’ (contented underachievers). Unfortunately, it is often difficult to compare or evaluate different typologies, since the methods and data used to devise these systems are frequently proprietary – this means that the information is developed and owned by the

company, and the company feels that it would not be desirable to release this information to outsiders. Such psychographic segmentation typologies and their associated lifestyle analyses have been widely used in Europe and the US.102 The best-known lifestyle segmentation system is The Values and Lifestyles System (VaLS2TM) that SRI International developed, initially for the US and Canada and later for international markets. The VALS2TM system is adapted for specific countries in order to take account of ‘cultural differences in the relationship between attitudes and behav- iors as they exist’.103 A battery of items (a mixture of psychological attitudes – empirically proven to link with consumerism – and key demographics) is used, for instance, to classify UK adults into six core groups, each with distinctive characteristics. ‘Measures of primary motivations – Tradition, Achievement, and Self-Expression – and high/low resources and innovation define the segments’.104 As Figure 6.6 shows, the typology arranges groups vertically by their resources (including such factors as income, education, energy levels, and eagerness to buy) and horizontally by self-orientation. ‘The united kingdom’s Consumer Groups' ● Activators are at the forefront of innovation, consumer activity, and change and are the most open to new ideas, products, and services. They have wide-ranging interests and a strong sense of personal identity. Activators divide by motivation: Tradition Activators, Achieve- ment Activators, and Self-Expression Activators. ● Traditionalists focus on preservation. They regulate social change, forcing reassessment of new ideas in the light of proven and established standards and ethical codes. ● Achievers relate achievements to the fruits of hard work and professional endeavor. They focus on success, status, and family. They value knowledge, influence, and qualifications. ● Seekers want individuality, self-discovery, display, and action. They actively seek self-grati- fication, excitement, experimentation, and sociability. ● Pragmatics like to play safe. They dislike standing out from their peer group and have a relatively low attachment to any particular lifestyle. Similar to Activators, Pragmatic consumers differenti- ate by motivation: Pragmatic Involvers have a tradition motivation, Pragmatic Rationals have an achievement motivation, and Pragmatic Aspirationals have a self-expression motivation. ● Constraineds prefer to try to hold on to the familiar and the past. Their world consists of immediate family and a few friends, who reinforce rather than challenge or renew their opinions and ideas’. The value of lifestyle segmentation typologies Generally, lifestyle analyses of consumers are exciting because they seek to provide a sort of com- plete sociological view of the market and its segments and trends, but their general character is their biggest weakness, since the underlying assumption – that these general segments have relatively homogeneous patterns of consumer behaviour – is far from proven.107 Add to this the generally weak theoretical foundation and the problems of reliability and validity linked to the large-scale questionnaires and to the operationalisation of complex social processes in simple variables, and it is understandable why some marketers

see lifestyles more as a way of ‘thinking the market’ and as an input to creative strategies than as descriptions of segments defined by their consumer behaviour.” (Solonon et al., 2016:221-22)...