Psychographic Segmentation

Psychographic segmentation or behavioral segmentation implies dividing the market into certain groups. This division is done in accordance with the lifestyles of the customers. Such factors as the expectations, attitude and activity of the customers are taken into account since they may influence their consumer behavior. Marketing campaigns are always customized in order to make them correspond to the motivations of potential consumers and attract them to a greater extent.

There are certain types of behavioral segmentation.

1. The lifestyle type. The attitudes and behavior of people are changing throughout their lives. The lifestyle patterns of a married woman with children differ from those of a young single girl or an elderly lady whose children have already left home. Therefore, the consumer behavior of those people will not be of the same kind. The model of sagacity lifestyle is considered to be one of the generally accepted lifestyle models. It identifies the following stages in a lifestyle: dependent, pre-family, family and late.

 

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A dependent stage covers the period of time children live at home with their parents. A pre-family stage is the period of time when people live separately in their own households but have no kids. To be at a family stage means to have at least one dependent child. Childless couples or those parents whose children have left home are considered to be at a late stage.

Every group is subdivided into smaller subgroups as consistent with their occupation and income.

Another significant area is made up by interests, hobbies and opinions regarding politics, environmental issues, art, culture, etc. The views of the customers and their activities predetermine the range of products they purchase. The marketers should take into consideration every possible change in those opinions. Nowadays, for instance, it is quite common to buy environmentally friendly organic food. Thus, the demand for it has grown significantly.

2. Degree of loyalty. Every company values those customers who buy the products of the same brand all the time. Segmenting the market on the basis of this criterion, marketing policies of the companies can be adapted in order to focus on retaining the regular customers rather than attracting new clients. It is much more beneficial to sell the products to the loyal ones than to invest effort in looking for new ones. From here it follows that the top priority of the company should be keeping the existing customers.

3. Occasions. This type of segmentation is based on the factor of time when the purchase is done. One of the most obvious examples is buying flowers, wine and chocolate at Christmas time. It is also common to purchase those things for birthdays; however, there are customers who need them every several days. A good marketing strategy is changing a conventional perception of the occasion when it is appropriate to buy a certain product. It can be done via suggesting an alternative way of using the product. For instance, Kellogg’s are trying to change the stereotype of cereal as a breakfast meal. They exert every possible effort to promote it as a kind of snack eaten at any time of the day.

4. Benefits. This type of segmentation implies identification of the main benefits that consumers can get purchasing a certain product. For example, toothpaste is chosen not only on the basis of its curative impact on the gums and teeth, but also its taste and capacity to prevent bad breath.

5. Usage. It is possible to segment the markets into the groups of heavy, medium and light users.

Cosmopolitan Elite is the wealthiest lifestyle group in Canada. It is the urban area both of those who have just made a fortune and inherited the old money. The household incomes here are five times as much as the average. West Vancouver, Mount Royal in Calgary, Westmount in Montreal and Forest Hill in Toronto are several of not numerous established neighborhoods of this type. Residents here are fabulously wealthy. These are mostly middle-aged and elderly couples. They enjoy going to opera houses, symphony, theater and galleries, support art, drive luxurious cars and live in splendid houses that cost millions of dollars. They care about their good health and go in for sport. Workouts at home and health clubs, Pilates, yoga, skiing and fitness are regular activities for them. They are active members of the community and do not mind volunteering on various projects and donating to events they consider suitable for that. They also attend arts festivals and sports competitions. Spending money wisely is their priority.