Definition of Psychographics, Values and Lifestyles

Introduction

Psychographic segmentation divides the market into groups based on social class, lifestyle and personality characteristics. It is based on the assumption that the types of products and brands an individual purchases will reflect that persons characteristics and patterns of living. The following are examples of psychographic factors used in market segmentation:

Social class is the single most used variable for research purposes, and divides the population into groups based on a socio-economic scale.

Lifestyle involves classifying people according to their values, beliefs, opinions, and interests. There is no one standardized lifestyle segmentation model, instead market research firms, and advertising agencies are constantly devising new categories, which will best help target possible consumers of their clients products.

Personality – The innate characteristics in an individual that make him or her unique. It is a picture of how a person is looked upon by others around him.

Psychographic Segmentation

Provides information on – personality, motives, lifestyles, geo-demographics

Groups consumers based on

Activities: work, hobbies, entertainment, shopping

Interests: family, home, community, fashion, media

Opinions: themselves, politics, economics, culture

What is a Consumer Lifestyle?

It is a constellation of individual characteristics that reflect certain behaviors participation in groups, activities, hobbies, volunteer activities

Commitments to certain behaviors product constellations

Lifestyle impacts on Consumer Analysis

What type of buying behavior is preferred?

Foundation of time use and time preferences.

Patterns of consumption are based on lifestyle

People sort themselves into groups based on what they like to do - sports, reading, fishing, music enthusiasts

Vals (Value & Lifestyle) Segmentation Based on Value & Lifestyle Orientation

Actualizers - successful, many resources

Fulfillers - career oriented, practical, principles

Achievers - career-oriented, predictability

Experiencers - impulsive, young, action

Believers - strong principles, proven brands

Strivers - like achievers, fewer resources

Makers - action, DIY Strugglers: difficult life

Social Class

Social Class is the relative standing of members of a society.

This means:

Higher positions imply higher status. We can say that Social class is more of a continuum, i.e., a range of social positions, on which each member of society can be place. But, social researchers have divided this continuum into a small number of specific classes. Thus, we go by this framework, social class is used to assign individuals or families to a social-class category. We can now define social class as the division of members of a society into a hierarchy of distinct status classes, so that members of each class have relatively the same status and the members of all other classes have either more or less status.

Factors Showing Social Class Differences

Authority

Income

Occupations and Achievement

Education

Characteristics of Social Classes

Persons within a given social class tend to behave more alike

Social class is hierarchical

Social class is not measured by a single variable but is measured as a weighted unction of one’s occupation, income, wealth, education, status, prestige, etc.

Social class is continuous rather than concrete, with individuals able to move into a higher social class or drop into a lower class.

Prominent Social Classes

Impact of Social Class

Provides a sense of identity

Imposes a set of ‘normative’ behaviors

Classes share values, possessions, customs and activities

Marketing response to customers of different economic means

Marketing to the low-income consumer

Some marketers ambivalent as not perceived as long-term customers

Constitutes a substantial group

Target with value-oriented strategies