FIGURE 1 Clearly, this is but another perspective on the potential definition and operationalization of the lifestyle concept. 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 Three consumers, two lifestyle segments: Are these three consumers meaningfully different from a marketing or consumer behavior point of view? 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). Lifestyle is an integrated system of attitudes, values, opinions and interests as well as overt behavior (p 497). Hawkins, Del J., Kenneth A. Coney, and Roger J. On the other hand, were all three consumer prospects included in the same lifestyle segment, targeting of marketing strategy would prove problematical because of contrast in cognitive style. Conducting research and reviewing trends and personal statistics, like psychographic data, can help marketers learn what their ideal customer likes and cares Clarification and differentiation of conceptual and operational definitions is appropriate to revive lifestyle and refine its usefulness as a segmentation tool. 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. ABSTRACT - While the term lifestyle has gained popular currency, it continues to defy definitional and operational consensus. ", Journal of Marketing, vol. A while back I bought some fancy sunscreen in Rice Village and then went to the Ultimately Adler came to see stole of life as: the organismic ideas of the individual as an actor rather than a re-actor; the purposiveness, goal-directedness, unity, self-consistency and uniqueness of the individual; andthe ultimately subjective determination of his actions (Ansbacher 1976, p. 191). And, starting with Dichter's innovative studies of consumers' motivations (1963), students of the consumer's mind have tried to apply the concepts and methods of clinical psychology to virtually every aspect of marketing. 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 Market segments are definable in terms of individuals whose expected reactions are similar to similar marketing strategy (Kotler 1980, pp. The population density in Austin is 2404% higher than Texas. WebThe average age for New Way Churchs initial target area (a four mile radius centered on the Gateway mall), for instance, is 36. 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). Thus, the lifestyle concept has varied widely in content and in range in the social sciences, according to the unit of analysis or the analyst (Ansbacher 1976, p. 203). P. 130). Kelley, Eugene J. Yet, while the term lifestyle gained popular currency, it continued to defy conceptual and operational consensus (Ferber and Lee 1974). 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. When used in It is composed of sub-symbols; it utilizes a characteristic pattern of life space [or the proximity of perceived constraints in the surrounding environment]; and it acts systematically to process objects and events [including products, services, and consumption itself] in accordance with these values (p. 141). Thomas C. Kinnear, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 405-411. 45, #3 (March), 347-355. (1963), "Symbolism and Life Style," in Toward Scientific Marketing, ed. Yet there is mounting evidence to the contrary; indeed, evidence that changes in behavior may trigger changes in cognitive processes and properties, rather than the reverse (Zimbardo and Effesen 1970, Ch. 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. Weber, Max (1946), Weber Essays in Sociology, eds. Kelley, Eugene J. by Carrie Marie Schneider February 6, 2013. Attitude formation and other types of subjective activity are not readily observable, but are behaviors nonetheless. William D. Wells, Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association, 317-363. Wells provides this historical perspective in his exhaustive "Psychographics: A Critical Review" (1975b): Starting with the classic study of Koponen (1960), investigators have repeatedly tried to correlate consumer behavior with scores obtained from standardized personality inventories. Koponen, Arthur (1960), "Personality Characteristics of Purchasers," Journal of Advertising Research, vol. It popped up in the 1970s, and its power to help marketers has been apparent from the get-go. Thus, in defining lifestyle, Ansbacher draws no distinction between cognitive processes--thinking, feeling, perceiving -Cand overt behavior. Much lifestyle research could better be termed "idiosyncracy research", since it uses the computer to group people with similar idiosyncracies (p. 37). The emphasis Ansbacher ascribes to the unifying property mirrors his conviction that lifestyle bridges cognitive style and response style. 33-38. Lifestyle is all things to all people, but this very fact that has made the concept appealing also impedes the development of further precision. 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). 8, #1 (March), 3-17. Yet, it would appear to be symptomatic of scientific pubescence, if not maturity, that the social sciences, and marketing in particular, periodically seek not only synthesis of findings, but also simplicity for the sake of conceptual and operational claritY. FIGURE 2 SEQUENTIAL SEGMENTATION: LIFESTYLE AND COGNITIVE STYLE It is rare in the social sciences to cop a plea for simplicity. ----------------------------------------, Advances in Consumer Research Volume 11, 1984 Pages 405-411, LIFESTYLE AND PSYCHOGRAPHICS: A CRITICAL REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION, W. Thomas Anderson, Jr., University of Texas at Austin, Linda L. Golden, University of Texas at Austin, [W. Thomas Anderson, Jr. and Linda L. Golden are Associate Professors in the Department of Marketing at The University of Texas at Austin. The paper then contrasts lifestyle and cognitive style conceptually and operationally, underscoring their intuitive, if imperfect, symmetry. 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. (19751 ), "Psychographics: A Critical Review," Journal of Marketing Research, 12(May), 196-213. The term "unified patterns of behavior" refers to behavior in its broadest sense. 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. $954. Wells provides this historical perspective in his exhaustive "Psychographics: A Critical Review" (1975b): Starting with the classic study of Koponen (1960), investigators have repeatedly tried to correlate consumer behavior with scores obtained from standardized personality inventories. 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). Lifestyle is all things to all people, but this very fact that has made the concept appealing also impedes the development of further precision. Psychographics are data that collect and categorize the population by using IAO (interests, activities and opinions) characteristics. 2023 Association for Consumer Research, The Journal of the Association for Consumer Research (JACR). THE LIFESTYLE CONCEPT IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES 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). 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. W. Thomas Anderson, Jr., University of Texas at Austin
Festinger, Leon (1964), "Behavioral Support for Opinion Change," Public Opinion Quarterly, vol. Hence, today, although ill-defined in the minds of most market analysts, lifestyle has come to be operationalized almost exclusively in terms of AIO by default. In the restricted range, in respect to individuals, characteristic perceptual styles, also known as cognitive styles, and response styles, as well as complex response styles have been discerned (Emphasis added, 1967, p. 203). Levy, Sidney J. Pessemier, Edgar A. and Douglas J. Tigert (1966), "Personality, Activity, and Attitude Predictors of Consumer Behavior," in New Ideas for Successful Marketing, eds. Rather, Adler's interpretation is relegated to the realm of psychographics or cognitive style. EVOLUTION OF THE LIFESTYLE CONCEPT IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 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. P. 130). EXHIBIT 1 LIFESTYLE AND PSYCHOGRAPHICS Compounding the conceptual confusion confounding lifestyle research is a semantic maze eclipsing the terms lifestyle and psychographics that remains unraveled. OPERATIONALIZATIONS OF LIFESTYLE IN MARKETING. Wilson, Clark C. (1966), "Homemaker Living Patterns and Marketplace Behavior - A Psychometric Approach," in New Ideas for Successful Marketing, eds. Rainwater, Coleman and Handel (1959) underscored the importance of interpreting shopping and consumption behavior in their broader lifestyle context. A logical and consistent implication of the above definition of lifestyle is that the domain of psychographic research by delimited in terms of cognitive style (cognitive processes or properties, including values, attitudes, beliefs, opinions, interests), that may be systematically linked to characteristic patterns of overt behavior. Clearly, this is but another perspective on the potential definition and operationalization of the lifestyle concept. WebProviding more than simple data reports of psychographic and Psychographic trends, The Retail Coach goes well beyond other retail consulting and market research firms Wells, William D. (1968), "Backward Segmentation," in Insights into Consumer Behavior, ed. Lifestyle may be defined as unified patterns of behavior that both determine and are determined by consumption. Psychographics, Demographics, & Public Opinion - Public Relations - Subject and Course Guides at University of Texas at Arlington Public Relations They came together because "life style" seemed to be such an appropriate shorthand expression for what the activity, interest and opinion research was attempting to portray. Loudon, David L. and Albert J. Della Bitta (1979), Consume Behavior: Concepts and Applications, New York: McGraw-Hill. By 1839, Waterloo would adopt the name Austin and the frontier town would become the capital of the Republic of Texas. WebLIFESTYLE AND PSYCHOGRAPHICS: A CRITICAL REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION. While Adler stressed the uniqueness of each individual, he nonetheless recognized similarities among individuals and their lifestyles (Ansbacher 1976. p. 192), suggesting the existence of lifestyle typologies (Ansbacher 1967, p. 203). Lifestyle formed the centerpiece of Adlerian psychology; indeed, Adler wrestled with the concept for forty years. 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. H. H. Gerth and C. W. Mills, New York:: Oxford University Press. 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). Wells, William D. (1974), "Life Style and Psychographics: Definitions, Uses and Problems," in Life Style and Psycho- graphics, ed. It is noteworthy that nowhere in Wells' article did he define or attempt to distinguish "lifestyle" from "psychographic" from "activity and attitude" research. Behavior: Concepts and Applications, New York:: Oxford University Press centerpiece of Adlerian psychology ; indeed Adler... 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