40 CHAPTER 2 UNDERSTANDING ANDAPPROACHINGTHEMARKET
Morrishassegmentedthemarketforcigarettebrandsbyappealingpsychologicallytocon-
sumersinthefollowingway:
- Marlboro:thebroadappealoftheAmericancowboy
- Benson&Hedges:sophisticated,upscaleappeal
- Parliament:a recessedfilterforthosewhowanttoavoiddirectcontactwithtobacco
- Merit:lowtarandnicotine
- VirginiaSlims:appeal basedon"You'vecomea longway, baby"theme
Evidencesuggeststhatattitudesofprospectivebuyerstowardscertainproductsinflu-
encetheirsubsequentpurchaseornon-purchaseofthem.Ifpersonswithsimilarattitudes
canbeisolated,theyrepresent an importantpsychologicalsegment.Attitudescanbedefined
aspredispositionstobehaveincertainwaysinresponsetogivenstimulus.I I
Personalityisdefinedasthelong-lastingcharacteristicsandbehaviorsofa person
thatallowthemtocope andrespondto their environment.Veryearlyon, marketerswere
examiningpersonalitytraitsasa meansforsegmenti:lgconsumers.Noneoftheseearlystud-
iessuggestthatmeasurablepersonalitytraitsoffermuchprospectofmarketsegmentation.
However,analmostinescapablelogicseemstodictatethatconsumptionofparticularprod-
uctso~brandsmustbemeaningfullyrelatedtoconsumerpersonality.Itis frequentlynoted
that theelderlydJivebigcars, that thenewrichspenddisproportionatelymoreonhousing
andothervisiblesymbolsofsuccess,andthatextrovertsd~essconspicuously. 12
Motivesarecloselyrelatedtoattitudes.Amotiveisa reasonforbehavior.Abuying
motivetriggerspurchasingactivity.Thelatterisgeneral,theformermorespecific. Inthe-
orythisis whatmarketsegmentationisallabout.Measurementsofdemographic,person-
ality,andattitudinalvariablesarereallyconvenientmeasurementsoflessconspicuous
motivationalfactors.Peoplewithsimilarphysicalandpsychologicalcharacteristicsarepre-
sumedto besimilarlymotivated. Motivescanbepositive(convenience),ornegative(fear
ofpain). Thequestionlogicallyarises:whynotobservemotivationdirectlyandclassify
marketsegments accordingly?
Lifestylereferstotheorientationthat anindividualora grouphastowardconsump-
tion,work, andplayandcanbe definedas a patternofattitudes,interests,andopinions
heldbya person.Lifestylesegmentationhasbecomeverypopularwithmarketers,because
oftheavailabilityof measurementdevicesandinstruments,andtheintuitivecategoriesthat
result fromthisprocess. 13 As a result, producersaretargetingversionsoftheirproducts
andtheirpromotionstovariouslifestylesegments.Thus,companieslikeAllStateInsur-
ancearedesigningspecialprogramsforthegooddriver,whohasbeenextensivelychar-
acterizedthrougha lifestylesegoentationapproach.^14 , 15
Lifestyleanalysis beginsbyaskingquestions abouttheconsumer'sactivities,inter-
ests,andopinions.Ifa manearns$40,000-$50,000peryearasanexecutive,witha wife
andfourchildren,what doeshethinkofhisroleasproviderversusfather? Howdoeshe
spendhissparetime?Towhatclubsandgroupsdoeshebelong?Doeshehunt?Whatare
hisatti~udestowardadvertising?Whatdoesheread?
AIO (activities, interests, opinions)inventories,astheyarecalled,revealvastamounts
ofinformationconcerningattitudestowardproductcategories,brandswithinproductcat-
egories, anduserandnon-usercharacteristics.Lifestylestudiestendtofocusuponhowpeo-
plespendtheirmoney;their patternsofworkandleisure;theirmajorinterests;andtheir
opinionsofsocial andpoliticalissues, institutions,andthemselves.Thepopularityoflifestyles
asa basisformarketsegmentationhas promptedseveralresearchfirmstospecializein
thisarea.However,fewhaveachieved thesuccessof VALSandVALS2 developedbySRI
International.
