Psychographics Is a Method by Which One

Psychographics is a method by which one can analyze and understand a social group and whereby one could get information about the psychological response to given situations by particular groups or individual persons. Psychographics is understood as a medium for understanding the diverse beliefs, opinions and interests of customers.1. It is also defined as profiling the perception, attitudes, feelings and preferences of customers and understanding the mental processes of customers in purchase decisions.

Psychographics a very effective tool of communication to the marketer, based on which appropriate marketing strategies can be formulated and implemented. It is believed that psychographics is perhaps a better method of understanding consumer behavior when compared with other behavioral tools such as psychodynamics, neuro-linguistics and design psychology. According to Harold Finkleman, "Psychographics enables to understand who we are in communication with, and how they would react to particular situations, whether it would be in a positive or negative manner and would thereby enable to have an understanding into their decisions made on the basis of their lifestyles and values upheld."2 We can use it to help us anticipate the psychological response to scientific individuals or audience to just about anything.

1. James.W.Peltier; John.A. Schibrowsky; Don, Schultz and John, Davis (2002), "Interactive Psychographics: Cross-Selling in the Banking Industry," Journal of Advertising Research. 42(2)

2. James.W.Peltier; John.A. Schibrowsky; Don, Schultz and John, Davis (2002) p..8

Market segmentation is one of the key marketing activities, which involves classification of population with the objective of identifying target groups on whom the marketing efforts can be focused. "Segmentation is essential for designing marketing and communication strategies to enable marketers reach out to the customers."3 A common method is to use the technique of demographics, by which the market is segmented based on gender, age, education, occupation, income, marital status and ethnic background. Demographics provides important information on the characteristics of the target market; for instance whether the population is dominated by youth or old, what is the average level of education and how much average disposal income is available with the potential customers. Thus, demographics provide basic information on the market participants but stops short of providing information on the psychological profiles of the customers. For example, with demographic data, it is not possible to know about the 'sentimental factors' that are involved in the purchase of an apartment by a middle class salaried worker. Another method of segmentation is by geographic, which is classifying the market based on boundaries and regions. 4 This again does not present a total view of the customer profiles.

3. M. McDonald and I. Dunbar (1995) 'Market Segmentation', Macmillan Press, London, p.47

4. George S. Low (2000), "Correlates of Integrated Marketing Communications," Journal of Advertising Research, 40 (May/June), 29

Psychographics is now recognized as an important and necessary tool in market segmentation as it attempts to unravel the buyer characteristics. Characteristics of psychographics include personality, attitude and lifestyle of buyers. Personality is of different types - compulsive, extrovert, gregarious, adventurous, formal, authoritarian, ambitious, enthusiastic, positive, indifferent, negative and hostile. "Understanding the personality of buyers would empower the marketer with the inside knowledge of customer expectations and can thus decide on the right marketing approach." Gender-based psychographic profiles have been developed to have a deep insight into buyer behavior. For males, Wells has suggested an eight-point psychological profile - quiet family man, traditionalist, discontented, ethical highbrow, pleasure oriented, achiever, he-man and sophisticated. 5

Obviously, different strategies will have to be adopted for each of these groups if a marketer is to be successful. The marketer can group the segment based on these psychological characteristics to evolve the right strategy. For instance, if psychographic segmentation shows that a group of potential buyers are young extroverts, then the marketer can design advertisements and commercials to suit such a behavior. "In profiling personality, the pleasure-arousal-dominance model is popular among marketers because it tries to measure the three basic and independent emotional states. Pleasure is a positive emotional state, in which the customer will be in a receptive state to the marketer and will be inclined to buy." 6

5. W.D Wells (1978) 'Lifestyle and Psychographics', American Marketing Association, p.44

6. W.D Wells (1978) p. 45

Arousal refers to the physical and mental alertness and is used to measure the buyer's emotional responses to a positive or negative stimulus. Dominance is about control, when the buyer feels in control of emotions. Personality traits such as anger, anxiety and satisfaction can be related to the three emotional states. Some other psychographic attributes based on the pleasure-arousal-dominance model include relaxed, exuberant and docile states. Color is another sensitive element in consumer behavior. "Psychographic profiling of color has identified three groups - the color forwards who are fashion savvy, the color prudent who take time in accepting new color trends and the color loyal, who do not accept color changes." 7 Attitude is the second major characteristic of psychographics. "Segmentation of attitude is based on degree of loyalty (to the brand), risk taking ability, probability of purchasing a new product."8. Individuals' attitude to the marketer's products and services can be in terms of personality traits. With respect to a potential buyer making the purchasing decision for a new product, attitude plays a role, depending on whether the buyer is an innovator, adopter or laggard. An innovator is more likely to make the decision faster compared to the laggard.

The third element in psychographic segmentation is lifestyle, which has three main dimensions namely activities, interests and opinions. Activities include work hobbies, social events, vacation, sports, entertainment and community interaction. A study of these attributes will give a picture of the general activities of the target segment. It is also important to know about the interests of the buyers, which may cover family, home, profession, food, fashion, media and entertainment.

7. James.W.Peltier; John.A. Schibrowsky; Don, Schultz and John, Davis (2002), "Interactive Psychographics: Cross-Selling in the Banking Industry," Journal of Advertising Research. 42(2): 10

8. W.D Wells (1978) 'Lifestyle and Psychographics', American Marketing Association, p.51

Opinions of the buyers on personal matters, social issues, politics, education, business and culture will also provide important inputs in mapping the segment profiles. Categorizing people based on apparent values and lifestyles is often referred to as 'psychographic profiling'. According to Mitchell, North American adults can be segmented into nine basic profiles. They include: survivors, sustainers, belongers, emulators, experentials, I-am-mes, achievers, societal conscious and integrateds. 9

From a psychological perspective, the survivors and sustainers belong to the need-driven category, emulators, belongers and achievers are driven by outer-directed needs such as status and social recognition. I-am-me, experentials and societally conscious groups are driven by inner-directed needs and such customers give more importance to individual needs than external values." 10 The integrateds are those who are psychologically mature and represent a combination of both outer activated and inner activated groups. This developmental stage is referred as nirvana and very few individuals are in this group. Mitchell describes the unique profile of each of these groups; for instance, the emulators are competitive, ambitious and in high income earners, the I-am-mes are young, instinctive and inventive, the achievers are natural leaders, professionals and status conscious.

9. W.D Wells (1978) 'Lifestyle and Psychographics', American Marketing Association, p.53

10. W.D Wells (1978) p.54

In the view of Mitchell, each segment evolves its own 'language' comprising of images, colors and expressions. It is the marketer's interest to identify and understand the language of the target segment and take appropriate steps to communicate in the same 'language'. In this approach, it must be remembered at all times that one attribute which is liked by one group, may be disliked by one or more other groups. "The marketer will have to tread carefully in determining the right approach, as while the efforts attract one group, they could turn off other groups, which can be detrimental in the long run."11 In such a case, every communication of the marketer would have both positive and negative responses, as the customer profile is invariably multi-segmented. For example, an advertisement focusing on sex-enhancing pills may be welcomed by emulators and experientals, but frowned upon by the societally conscious.

In practice it is not possible to develop advertisements or commercials that satisfy the entire cross section of customers. However, the marketer can ensure that as much as negative elements in the communication is eliminated and substituted with neutral alternatives so that certain groups are not seriously offended. In an interesting example of lifestyle segmentation, acronyms have been used to differentiate customer groups: yuppies, to denote young and upwardly mobile professionals, dinks-dual income with no kids, bumps-upwardly mobile and heavy borrowers, silks-single income with lots of kids, glams - affluent middle age with lot of leisure time and jollies -wealthy, old age travelers. 12

11. Low, George S. (2000), "Correlates of Integrated Marketing Communications," Journal of Advertising Research, 40 (May/June), 28

12. G.Drummond and J.Ensor (2001) 'Strategic Marketing: Planning and Control', Butterworth-Heinmann, p.56

In certain cases, there is increasing reliance on combining psychological profiles with specific demographic and geographic data in an attempt to have a full picture of the market segments. CCN, a European company has developed psychographic segmentation of residential neighborhoods, based on ten life style types: Elite suburbs, average areas, luxury flats, low income inner city, high rise social housing, industrial communities, dynamic families, lower income families, rural or agricultural areas and vacation or retirement spots. A company promoting house projects will find data based on this segmentation valuable, as they can design and construct residential houses and complexes based on the preferences and affordability of each of these segments. 13

Brooke Warrick, an exponent of psychographics in America supposes that there are five profiles among homebuyers - traditionalists, moderns, modern cynics, winner with heart and cultural creative. "Traditionalists tend be religious, straightforward and are known to defend what they believe to be true and fair."14. They are relatively conservative, predictable and often stick to formal house designs, features and facilities. This group will not pay for high quality design and are not inclined to show interest in fancy brand names. Moderns are ambitious, status conscious and give important to style and image. They are ready to spend more if the house is modern, fashionable and offers a great deal of external value in their perception. It is common for this group to avoid sales people as they look for what the offer is rather than advice or guidance.

13. Thomas H. Davenport; Jeanne G. Harris, and Ajay Kohli (2001), "How Do They Know their Customers So Well?" Sloan Management Review, 42 (2), 64.

14. James.W.Peltier; John.A. Schibrowsky; Don, Schultz and John, Davis (2002), "Interactive Psychographics: Cross-Selling in the Banking Industry," Journal of Advertising Research. 42(2): 10

Modern cynics, is a subset of moderns, with some differences. While this group falls for success, external display and material interests, they are distrustful and cynic. People working in process-based or analytical professions generally fall into this category and hence the general proportion of modern cynics in a given population is low. According to Warrick, such people are "more characterized by what they are against than what they are for." 15 They usually seek answers to a lot of technical questions about construction and architecture. Modern cynics are more interested in a zero-defect track record of the builder rather than the aesthetic or design values that the builder can offer. If marketers are able to assuage their doubts and win their trust, then it is easier to conclude sales with them. Winners with heart are more common and their distinct character lies in the desire to be part of a community.

In other words, they are willing to socialize, meet people and look for entertainment. Typically, they look for wide-open spaces and floor plans that will give them the chance to accommodate people. However like moderns, they are growth and status oriented, tend to be quality and brand conscious and fall for style and elegance. The fifth group, cultural creative are perhaps among the most common type - educated, culture driven, socially oriented and display concern for the environment. While they strive to be successful, they are not comfortable in enjoying the fruits of success in public. They have strong sentimental attachments to their homes and hence go in for comfortable and colorful styles and designs. This group prefers classy and conventional architecture and more inclined to buy houses that can provide the opportunity to interact with nature. 16

15. Alexa Bezjian-Avery; Bobby Calder, and Dawn Iacobucci (1998), "Interactive Advertising vs. Traditional Advertising," Journal of Advertising Research, 38 (4), 26

16. Alexa Bezjian-Avery; Bobby Calder, and Dawn Iacobucci (1998), 27

The practical application of psychographics in the tourism industry provides some interesting insights. In 2001, the South African national tourism department conducted a survey on domestic tourists based on psychographic variables. The survey concluded that there were four broad categories of tourists - up market campers, economy trippers, and beach brigade, game and bush lovers. "Up market campers, as the name implies valued their holidays and believed in sparing no effort to make the vacation enjoyable." 17 They were ready to pay higher prices for quality accommodation and service and enjoyed in outdoor activities such as mountaineering. The survey found that the majority of respondents were in the high-income group and more than half of the respondents were in the age group of 25-50 years.

The second category economy trippers do not prefer to travel during vacations; instead, they tend to stay home and spend leisure time with family and friends. Such groups were found to be least prosperous and generally over 35 years of age. The survey found that, on an average the economy trippers spent a little over half of what the up market campers spent during the 12 months preceding the survey. The third group, beach brigade, favored hitting the beach during holidays, thus visiting the coastal cities. Members of this group were mainly in the 35-50 years age bracket and spent much more than the economy trippers. 18

17. A re Ageng North West Province 2001. (February 2001)Strategic Planning Workshop (back ground documentation) 25

18. A re Ageng North West Province 2001. (February 2001)Strategic Planning Workshop (back ground documentation) 25

The last category game and bush lovers showed a liking for the plains parks and forests. Over two thirds of the group was over 35 and they spent roughly the same as the beach brigade. The survey findings threw light on important psychographic characteristics of the respondents. In combination with demographic and geographic data, the overall picture of domestic tourists profile in South Africa became much clearer, thus providing an excellent opportunity to devise and implement appropriate marketing plans for promoting tourism. 19

Psychographics concerns with mind-to-mind relationship with the customers, wherein customers are segmented not just in terms of historical buying behavior, but considered as the sum of their thoughts, feelings and attitudes." 20 With such an approach, companies can establish a one-to-one relationship with customers, similar to the relationships between close friends. Under this scenario, customers buy because they like the marketers and it is likely that the rationale for purchasing decision takes a back seat. The relationship leads to the situation where customers get pleasure and avoid pain, the universal motivator for humans. As long as the relationship continues, customers continue to be loyal and even allow a few lapses on the part of the marketer. Advancements in cognitive psychology and neuro-linguistic programming has armed marketers with the necessary inputs to map customers according to thinking style, temperament and a wide range of personality attributes. Here the mind is involved and hence all related psychological factors such as emotion, satisfaction, anger and anxiety. The mind models also provide valuable evidence as to how the customers interpret the promotional efforts of the marketers. Thus, psychographics plays a vital role in predicting buyer behavior, the essence of all marketing strategies.