Equally importantly, the proposed distinctions should lead to greater definitional consensus, operational clarity, and more defensible linkages to existing research and theory in the social sciences. $1,873. For example, according to contemporary definitions, two consumers would be classed as exhibiting a similar lifestyle if, and only if, they are characterized by both parallel patterns of overt behavior and congruent cognitive styles. Quite the contrary, behavioral and marketing analysis seem characterized by ever-increasing conceptual, operational, and methodological complexity, much of which seems needless. Stephen A. Greyser, Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association, 140-149. 46-50. beliefs and interests. Festinger, Leon (1964), "Behavioral Support for Opinion Change," Public Opinion Quarterly, vol. 13, 82(December), 230-237. New York: Oxford University Press. This has proven both a convenience and a "Catch-29" for market analysts. 800.851.0962 | INFO@THERETAILCOACH.NET | THERETAILCOACH.NET | AUSTIN, TEXAS TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI 4 Income Range of Lifemode Summary Groups Bastrop, Texas + L1 AFFLUENT ESTATES Established wealth educated, well-traveled married couples + L2 UPSCALE AVENUES Prosperous, married couples in higher density neighborhoods Fencrich, J. M. (1967), "A Study of the Association Among Verbal Attitudes, Commitment, and Overt Behavior in Different Experimental Conditions," Social Forces, vol. Tx. Markin, Rom J. Jr. (1974), Consumer Behavior: A Cognitive Orientation, New York: MacMillan. Two problems emerge: On one hand, the conventional interpretation of lifestyle leads to an unnecessarily narrow definition of market segment boundaries and, hence, to underestimates of market potential. ed. The emphasis in market segmentation is on consistencies in overt behavior, irrespective of contrasts in cognitive style, because the marketing practitioner is primarily interested in parallel patterns of search, shopping or consumption behavior. Sequential segmentation on the basis of consistencies in cognitive style will permit the precise targeting of marketing strategy. Yet from the firm's perspective, one important denominator of patronage potential is congruence in overt behavior, irrespective of contrasts in cognitive style. 900-901). P. 130). Lazer, William (1963), "Life Style Concepts and Marketing, in Toward Scientific Marketing, ed. Of particular relevance to the present analysis is Ansbacher's observation that: The concept of style may vary in range from a relatively limited segment to the totality of behavior when it becomes lifestyle. The resolution and reconciliation of these two problems built into conventional definitions and operationalization of lifestyle lies in sequential segmentation: Segmenting first on the basis of consistencies in overt behavior, the on the basis of congruence in cognitive style. The analysis and classification of activity or behavioral reports from the consumer which are frequently classified as "psychographics", should be given their own distinct term, such as "lifestyle" (pp. Veblen, Thorstein (1899), The Theory of the Leisure Class, New York: MacMillan. 200-201). You know, the softer stuff thats harder to wedge into a data set. In his historical review of the lifestyle concept in the social science literature Ansbacher (1967) noted that the lifestyle concept has been applied in three different uses at three levels of aggregation. Although quickly adopted as the most widely cited interpretation of the lifestyle concept in. Wilson, Clark C. (1966), "Homemaker Living Patterns and Marketplace Behavior - A Psychometric Approach," in New Ideas for Successful Marketing, eds. Psychographics is nothing new. Lifestyle formed the centerpiece of Adlerian psychology; indeed, Adler wrestled with the concept for forty years. austin texas psychographics. Segmenting first on the basis of parallel patterns of search, shopping and consumption behavior would result in lifestyle segments encompassing all potential prospects for the firm's products. We identified the top two psychographic groups in Austin to be Boomburbs and Up and Coming Families, followed by Metro Renters and Young and Restless (in Esri consumer analysis, Lazer's definition is tautological! This psychographic segmentation variable provides marketers with information about a target audience's beliefs, motivations, morals and overall outlook on (1966), "Words and Needs: Social Science and Social Policy," Social Problems, vol. The distinction has apparently been lost on most consumer analysts, as the terms continue to be used interchangeably, indeed by Wells himself (Wells, 1975b). The paper (1) documents the internal inconsistency of contemporary definitions and operationalizations of lifestyle, (2) suggests an alternative definition, (3) provides a logical distinction between lifestyle and cognitive style, and (4) stresses the logical distinction between lifestyle and psychographic research. Defining and operationalizing lifestyle to encompass both overt behavior and cognitive style needlessly confounds the task of lifestyle segmentation. Hence, the lifestyle segment should be expanded to include all three consumers on the basis of behavioral parallelism. Online. It suggests that consumer purchasing is an interrelated, patterned phenomenonproducts are bought as part of a "life style package" (p. 153). $79,542 Median household income. Instead, to paraphrase from Talarzyk (1972, p. 465), "If you laid all of the people doing [lifestyle] research end-to-end, they would: (a) never reach a conclusion and (b) all point different directions." The term psychographic (psycho = mental; graphic = profile) connotes the profiling of psychological processes or properties. Stephen A. Greyser, Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association, 140-149. 204-206) discerns three "important common properties" of lifestyle: Unifying aspect: Lifestyle connotes internal consistency and unity, irrespective of specific percepts or responses (1967, p. 204). Accordingly either psychographic or lifestyle research may focus upon individuals, groups, or society as the unit of analysis depending upon the researcher's purposes. Lifestyle is an integrated system of attitudes, values, opinions and interests as well as overt behavior (p 497). Bell (1958), Rainwater, Coleman and Handel (1959), and Havinhurst and Feigenbaum (1959) inaugurated the lifestyle concept in the consumer behavior literature at the close of the 1950s, pointing to its potential significance in understanding, explaining and predicting consumer behavior and, hence, its importance as a focus for marketing strategy. Lazer in 1963 echoed earlier convictions concerning the potential richness and synergistic value of the lifestyle concept for consumer analysis and coined the initial explicit definition of lifestyle appearing in the marketing literature. Exhibit 1 provides a comprehensive review of definitions, operationalizations, and theoretical anchorages of lifestyle appearing in the marketing literature, along with the major proponents of each. The population density in Austin is 2404% higher than Texas. Zimbardo, Phillip and Ebbe B. Ebbesen (1970), Influencing Attitudes and Changing Behavior, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Dorny, Lester R. (1971), "Observations on Psychographics," in Attitude Research Reaches New Heights, eds. Wells, William D. (19751 ), "Psychographics: A Critical Review," Journal of Marketing Research, 12(May), 196-213. Providing more than simple data reports of psychographic and demographic trends, The Retail Coach INFO@THERETAILCOACH.NET | THERETAILCOACH.NET | AUSTIN, TEXAS TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI 4 DESCRIPTION DATA % Population 2025 Projection 54,679 2020 Estimate 50,086 2010 Census 39,627 2000 Census 26,792 Growth 2020 - 2025 9.17% Psychographics refers to peoples qualitative characteristics. 13, 82(December), 230-237. Deutscher (1966, p. 135) succinctly summarized the implication: "Disparities between thought and action are the central methodological problem of the social sciences." You can use psychographics in marketing with the following steps: 1. The primary purpose of this paper is to revive and refine lifestyle as a theoretical and research tool and segmentation variable. LIFESTYLE AND MARKET SEGMENTATION The persistent conceptual and operational imprecision of the lifestyle construct has not only handicapped lifestyle research, but has undermined its usefulness as a segmentation variable. W. Thomas Anderson, Jr., University of Texas at Austin Writing at the same time, Levy (1963) proposed a contrasting concept of lifestyle, one reminiscent of Adler's conviction that a fictionalized goal or theme pervades one's life providing structure to both self-concept and behavior. Felson (1975) perhaps best captured the critical, if not terminal, conceptual and operational condition of lifestyle. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Cognitive style is customarily defined as "one's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling and perceiving" (Markin 1974, pp. The term "unified patterns of behavior" refers to behavior in its broadest sense. Thus almost accidentally, the lifestyle concept has become operationalized among a certain group of researchers as activity, interest and opinion research conducted for a rather limited set of purposes and employing a rather limited set of techniques (p. 498). This is admittedly narrow as defining lifestyle as overt behavior does not allow for the broad, psychological Adlerian perspective of lifestyle. Linda L. Golden, University of The persistent conceptual and operational imprecision of the lifestyle construct has not only handicapped lifestyle research, but has undermined its usefulness as a segmentation variable. 29, #4(October). Rik Pieters, Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Operational, functional and constancy aspects: Lifestyle connotes consistent operations and actions or behavior over time (1967, pp. Over the past half-century the intuitively appealing notion that individuals and groups exhibit idiosyncracies of "style" in living fueled intensifying interest in the lifestyle concept among social satirists and social scientists alike. While the term lifestyle has gained popular currency, it continues to defy definitional and operational consensus. Sometime during the 1960's a blend of these two traditions began to take shape. Consequently, in interpreting lifestyle to include both characteristic patterns of overt behavior and cognitive processes and properties, contemporary definitions of lifestyle frequently lead to operationalizations that are internally inconsistent. It popped up in the 1970s, and its power to help marketers has been apparent from the get-go. Reed Moyer, Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association, 55-62. Clarification and differentiation of conceptual and operational definitions is appropriate to revive lifestyle and refine its usefulness as a segmentation tool. Indeed, the search for such systematic links has been much of the motivation behind the intensifying interest in lifestyle and psychographic research in the past two decades. Defining Lifestyle in terms of characteristic patterns of overt behavior also suggests an intuitive symmetry between the domains of lifestyle and of psychographic research paralleling Dorny's dichotomy (Dorny 1971, pp. Little has changed in the ebb tide of interest in lifestyle research over the last five years. 317-363) attempted to delimit and distinguish the domains of lifestyle from psychographic research. In the above case, although exhibiting parallel search, shopping, or consumption behavior, one consumer would be excluded from the lifestyle characterizing the other two on the basis of contrasting cognitive style. Felson, Marcus (1975), "A Modern Sociological Approach to the Stratification of Material Life Styles," in Advances in Consumer Research, ed. ", Journal of Marketing, vol. Those are emotional issues that will Three consumers, two lifestyle segments: Are these three consumers meaningfully different from a marketing or consumer behavior point of view? This has proven both a convenience and a "Catch-29" for market analysts. William D. Wells, Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association, 317-363. The origins of the lifestyle concept are obscure, but its roots are traceable to the works of poets, naturalists, and philosophers writing as early as the sixteenth century (Ansbacher 1976, p. 196). Implicit in the foregoing definitional distinctions is the realization that while cognitive style and lifestyle perhaps operate in imperfect symmetry, the domains of psychographic and lifestyle research are logically symmetrical and complementary (Dorny 1971; Loudon and Della Bitta 1979, p. 98). Bell, Wendell (1958), "Social Choice, Life Style, and Suburban Residence," in the The Suburban CommunitY, ed. OPERATIONALIZATIONS OF LIFESTYLE IN MARKETING. 345-355). Consumer analysts and market practitioners are interested in values, attitudes, beliefs, opinions and interests to the extent that they augment predictions of overt behavior, particularly search, shopping and consumption behavior, or permit pin-point targeting of marketing strategy. Marketers are not selling isolated products which can be viewed as symbols; they are selling, or consumers are buying, a style of life or pieces of a larger symbol (p. 168). Wells, William D. (1968), "Backward Segmentation," in Insights into Consumer Behavior, ed. An individual's life-style is a large complex symbol in motion. FIGURE 2 SEQUENTIAL SEGMENTATION: LIFESTYLE AND COGNITIVE STYLE It is rare in the social sciences to cop a plea for simplicity. Psychographics allow you to uncover the content topics that are likely to resonate with your customers. Highlight the brand's values. Psychographics also give brands the opportunity to highlight their values and align them with the customer's. This can help companies accomplish their branding goals. Charles W. King and Douglas J. Tigert, Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association, 189-195. While (perhaps inadvertently restricting the term lifestyle to "the totality of behavior," Ansbacher concludes that "the broad range of life style includes cognitive style and response style" (Emphasis added, 1967, p. 203). Beverlee B. Anderson, Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research. J. Arndt, New York: Allyn and Bacon, 85-100. The most telling observation from Exhibit 1, however, is the paucity of published lifestyle literature addressing the three criteria qualifying the usefulness of any social science construct: (1) definitional consensus, (2) operational clarity, and (3) theoretical context. The emphasis Ansbacher ascribes to the unifying property mirrors his conviction that lifestyle bridges cognitive style and response style. WebProviding more than simple data reports of psychographic and Psychographic trends, The Retail Coach goes well beyond other retail consulting and market research firms Sequential segmentation on the basis of consistencies in cognitive style will permit the precise targeting of marketing strategy. Far and away the most popular of operationalizations of lifestyle is the activities, interests and opinions (AIO) method pioneered by Wilson (1966), Pessemier and Tigert (1966), and Wells (1968). The emphasis in market segmentation is on consistencies in overt behavior, irrespective of contrasts in cognitive style, because the marketing practitioner is primarily interested in parallel patterns of search, shopping or consumption behavior. about 1.5 times the amount in Texas: $34,717. 194-196). Stephen A. Greyser, Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association, 151-164. None played so major a role in developing the life style concept and integrating it into our idiom and thought as the psychologist Alfred Adler. Psychographics are data that collect and categorize the population by using IAO (interests, activities and opinions) characteristics. Our handcrafted cinnamon rolls and desserts are 100% vegan plant-based, and dairy-free. Conversely, another consumer who behaves in the same fashion, yet holds quite different values, attitudes, beliefs, opinions of interests, would be designated as characterized by a contrasting lifestyle. In Austin 6.82% of the population is Asian. Hence, any given lifestyle segment would likely consist of subsegments consisting of consumers with common cognitive processes and properties or cognitive style (see Figure 2).