End
Users
If your customers are primarily the ultimate consumers or end
users of your product or service, identification is generally
done in terms of demographic and lifestyle factors.
Demographics are tangible, measurable facts that distinguish
one group of people from another. For example:
- ethnic background
- age
- income
- education
- sex
- location
- occupation
- number of people/family
- children's ages
Lifestyle analysis is more concerned with the
"intangibles:"
- cultural background
- religious beliefs
- political beliefs
- value systems
- recreation and hobbies
- music preferences
- literature preferences
- food preferences/menu planning
- restaurant preferences
- entertainment preferences
- travel preferences
- social interaction patterns
- media habits
For example, heavy coffee, liquor, and tobacco users are not
easily identified with demographic information. They may be
found in any age group or socio-economic category. However,
lifestyle analysis shows high correlation with certain
characteristics, including media habits, recreational pursuits,
social interaction patterns, music, and other attributes. If you
can identify these, you can make your promotions or advertising
more appealing to these target buyers.
In some product categories, such as alcoholic beverages,
there are several skewed segments representing different age
groups, demographic characteristics, and lifestyle patterns:
- an 18-to-30 age group, primarily male heavy beer drinkers,
with subsegments differentiated by choices of country and
western music, rock music, contemporary/jazz, and sports
interests
- a 39-to-55 age group including both males and females,
with an urban skew and subsegments with wine and hard
liquor, differentiated by classical, jazz, new age, and soft
rock music, with interests in reading, movies, heavy video
rentals, more expensive vacations, and both younger and
older children
Information on end users may be obtained from secondary
research or original primary
company research.
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