Martin Reilly and Deb Rapacz write a great short piece, Psycho: Why We're Scared, in an issue of BrandWeek magazine about how psychographic segmentation needs to be turned on its ear. Recommended reading!
Let me read a quote, “The grouping of consumers into these like-minded segments doesn't mean that they are like-behaved. The underlying trouble is that most psychographic studies are starting at the wrong end of the stick. Where they ought to begin their segmenting is on a behavioral basis with conduct that relates to actually buying the brand in that category.”
There are examples of this everywhere and pervasive in our language. A print magazine created a new label, hybrid mom. And there are many more. “Helicopter mom”, “Wired mom”, “Boomer mom”, “Gen Y mom”. I can go on. You get the point. The curious thing is, I've yet to meet a mom who describers herself with one of these labels.
Society is more complex and diverse than it has ever been. Paying attention to behaviors and attitudes, and minimizing segmentation labels makes more sense.
