Personalities, Self-concepts, and Lifestyles

When marketing products to customers, we think about a person’s income and location, but did you think of considering hobbies, family life, job, or even if a person stays on top of the latest trends? There are many things to consider when thinking of a potential customer. When you decide on a product to market, do some research on the area and type of person who lives there. This will greatly effect how you market to this area and how to do it.

VALS Survey

VALS is a psychometric method that measures predictive attitudes, along with behaviors and demographics, for developing countrywide typologies. I recently took the survey and here are my results:

Your VALS™ Type

Primary Type: Strivers

Secondary Type: Achievers

Your primary VALS type means that you are most like the Strivers consumer group. Your secondary type—the group you are next most like—is Achievers.

Your primary VALS type represents your dominant approach to life. The secondary type represents a particular emphasis on the dominant approach.

As a consumer group, Strivers have low resources and an Achievement motivation.

Members of this group typically:

Have revolving employment; high temporary unemployment
Use video and video games as a form of fantasy
Are fun loving
Are imitative
Rely heavily on public transportation
Are the center of low-status street culture
Desire to better their lives but have difficulty in realizing their desire
Wear their wealth

Members of this group typically:

Have a “me first, my family first” attitude
Believe money is the source of authority
Are committed to family and job
Are fully scheduled
Are goal oriented
Are hardworking
Are moderate
Act as anchors of the status quo
Are peer conscious
Are private
Are professional
Value technology that provides a productivity boost

I actually found this survey to be highly inaccurate. My primary type is a striver. The only thing I relate to is that I enjoy video games, and I always strive to do better. I do not stay current on the latest fashion, I do not wear my wealth, and I am not impulsive. I am a very scheduled person. When things do not go according to plan in my personal life, I tend to shut down.

I would agree with my secondary type being Achiever, however, I would think that would be my first type. I have always put my family first. I am hardworking but need goals to keep me on track. While I got one I don’t agree with, I do agree that I am an achiever.

Clarita’s PRIZM

There is another website called Clarita’s that gives you lifestyle characteristics for certain areas. I looked through the categories and found I relate best to number 34: Young and Influential. This is described as upper midscale younger mostly without kids. I do not have kids so I was looking for this from the beginning. Here are some of the characteristics of the Young and Influential:

Upper Midscale Younger Mostly w/o Kids

Young & Influential is a segment of college educated mainly 25-44 year-old adults who are influential in their communities and social networks and are very tech savvy. The segment is a common address for middle-class singles and couples who are more preoccupied with balancing work and leisure pursuits and who live in apartment complexes surrounded by ball fields, health clubs, and casual-dining restaurants.

Social Group: 07 – S4 Inner Suburbs

Lifestage Group: 01 – Y1 Midlife Success

US Households: 1,150,797

Median Household Income: $66,802

Demographics Traits:

Urbanicity: Metro Mix

Income: Upper Midscale

Income Producing Assets: Low

Household Technology: 1 Highest

Age Ranges: Age 25-44

Presence of Kids: Mostly w/o Kids

Homeownership: Renters

Employment Levels: Management and Professional

Education Levels: College Graduate

Lifestyle & Media Traits:

Owns an Infiniti

Eats at Mellow Mushroom

Shops at HomeGoods

Attends minor league hockey games

I am 31 years old, I live with my 28 year old boyfriend, and we have a dog and a cat. We rent our apartment. He is a manager of a trucking company with a business management bachelors degree. I am currently in school, I graduate in May with my associates in Digital Marketing, and I bartend on the weekends. As for the lifestyle traits, we eat out at pizza places, I shop at stores similar to HomeGoods, and we enjoy sporting events quite frequently.

Clarita’s is a great website to look into the demographics of certain areas. You can look areas up by zip codes and it will give you multiple personalities that live in the area. This is extremely useful when marketing to certain areas. I looked up a few zip codes around me and I think they were pretty accurate. This is a great resource to use to research and know your customers.

The most important thing when marketing is to know your audience. Do the research, find out what those potential customers like to do and work with that.