The Marketing Book 5th Edition

Market segmentation 259

Table 10.5 ACORN ‘segments’

Category

and label

Description

Category A

Group 1

Wealthy Achievers,

Suburban Areas

The majority of people in this group live in a large detached house and have

access to two or more cars. They are typically well-educated professional

people, the corporate managers in their middle-age, enjoying the fruits of

their labour. These are the consumers with the money and the space to

enjoy very comfortable lifestyles.

Category A

Group 2

Affluent Greys,

Rural Communities

This group covers Britain’s better-off farming communities – residents here

are 12 times more likely than average to be involved in agriculture. Many are

self-employed and work long hours. The very high incidence of visitors and

households which are not the main residence show that these areas also

include many holiday homes.

Category A

Group 3

Prosperous

Pensioners,

Retirement Areas

The better-off senior citizens in society are to be found in Group 3. Living in

flats, detached houses or bungalows, these are old folk who can enjoy their

retirement in pensioned comfort after their professional or executive

careers. They are likely to own their home outright, so they have the

disposable income to enjoy themselves.

Category B

Group 4

Affluent Executives,

Family Areas

These are the well-qualified business people, successfully juggling jobs and

families. There are lots of working women in this group. With mortgages,

young children and often two or more cars to support, these busy people

need their incomes but aren’t having too hard a time making ends meet.

They are likely to have large, modern detached houses and generally enjoy a

good standard of living.

Category B

Group 5

Well-Off Workers,

Family Areas

In a wide range of well-paid occupations, people in Group 5 are likely to be

in couples, often with children aged 0–14. Both Mum and Dad are working

hard to pay off the mortgage on their detached or, more probably,

semi-detached home. While they are not as highly qualified as people in

Group 4, they still have an agreeable lifestyle, often with more than two cars

per household.

Category C

Group 6

Affluent Urbanities,

Town and City

Areas

These are the young couples or single people starting out in life, a few years

and a couple of kids behind the people in Group 4! They tend to live in flats,

terraced houses or bedsits. There are quite a number of students in this

group. Car ownership is average, reflecting the urban setting.

Category C

Group 7

Prosperous

Professionals,

Metropolitan Areas

People in Group 7 share many characteristics with Group 6. However, they

live in more cosmopolitan areas with a high ethnic mix. They take the train

or underground to the office each day, working long hours in fairly senior

roles and making the most of their high qualifications.

Category C

Group 8

Better-Off

Executives,

Inner City Areas

These are well-qualified people, over a third of whom are single with no

dependants. The age profile here is younger than for Groups 6 and 7, and

there are many more students and other characteristics of academic centres.

This group also has a relatively high proportion of professionals and

executives, and shares many of the cosmopolitan features of Group 7.

Category D

Group 9

Comfortable

Middle Agers,

Mature Home

Owning Areas

Mr and Mrs Average are to be found in these areas – they are close to the

national ‘norm’ on just about every key characteristic. Living in a detached or

semi-detached house with at least one car, likely to be an older married

couple, Group 9 represents middle-of-the-road Britain. They are not

particularly well-off but have few problems with unemployment or health.