As a marketer, it is important to understand your consumers and the different factors that may influence their purchasing decisions. You can better understand your consumers by identifying the psychographics and demographics of your target market. Psychographics include consumer characteristics such as values, hobbies, spending habits, and attitudes. Demographics include details such as age, gender, and income. Two tools you can use to further segment your target market are VALS and PRIZM.
VALS
The VALS assessment groups people into eight different segments. The eight segments are Innovators, Thinkers, Achievers, Experiencers, Believers, Strivers, Makers, and Survivors. VALS also includes three consumer motivators: ideals, achievements, and self-expression. The VALS framework can be used to help marketers further understand their target market by segmenting consumers according to their lifestyles, attitudes, and values. Each group gives better insight into how consumers choose to spend their time and money.
After taking the VALS survey, I learned my two main VALS types are Strivers and Believers.
I learned that Believers find advertising as a legitimate source of information and tend to be trend followers. Strivers are said to act spontaneously and wear their wealth.
PRIZM
Claritas PRIZM is a tool used by marketers that categorizes consumers into 68 different demographic and behavioral segments. Segments are based on consumer behavior, demographics, and geographic information. PRIZM considers factors such as socioeconomic rank, education, household size, home value, and shopping habits. Marketers can use this information to better understand the ages, households, and incomes within specific areas.
After searching my city’s zip code on the Claritas PRIZM website I was able to see a breakdown of how my city is segmented. My area is mainly categorized into five different groups: Striving Selfies, Metro Grads, American Classics, Generation Web, and Middleburg Managers.
I was able to further view the population categorized into household income, household composition, population by age, and population by race and ethnicity.
Both VALS and PRIZM are useful tools to help marketers achieve a better understanding of the lifestyle and behavior of consumers.