Show me how you live and I'll tell you who you are
Market research Those who thought of target group identification in terms of income, education or consumer behavior have to retrain: "Soft" criteria such as social environment or aesthetic preferences allow fine target group segmentations. A corresponding method will be introduced in Switzerland in the fall on the initiative of Publisuisse.
Market research Those who thought of target group identification in terms of income, education or consumer behavior have to retrain: "Soft" criteria such as social environment or aesthetic preferences allow fine target group segmentations. A corresponding method will be introduced in Switzerland this fall on the initiative of Publisuisse.Imagine: Two men, both born in 1948 and raised in Great Britain, both married with children who are almost grown up by now, both professionally successful and very wealthy, both no longer living with their wives and preferring to spend their vacations in the Alpine region - and their faces are world-famous: They are the hard rocker Ozzy Osbourne and the blue blood Prince Charles. They are so-called "socio-demographic twins" and, as consumers, should behave in the same way. However, the chances of Ozzy Osbourne and Prince Charles doing so are more than slim. They have lifestyles and preferences that could hardly be more different.The example shows that defining target groups according to conventional characteristics can have its pitfalls. Even though there are now many segmentation options: Markets can be divided according to geographic, demographic, sociodemographic or psychographic criteria. Newer approaches also use behavioral or usage-based criteria, such as customers' consumption or information behavior. And the combination of sociodemographic and psychographic criteria to form various lifestyle typologies is also common.
To be practical, the segmentation criteria have to meet various requirements. First of all, they must be measurable. Furthermore, the criteria used for measurement must have qualitative explanatory power with regard to purchasing behavior. In addition, the identified segments should be clearly addressable and exhibit a certain stability over time. Finally, the way a company segments its target market influences the allocation of resources and thus the future development of the company. It therefore makes sense to always keep the development of the next three to five years in mind when segmenting. And ultimately, the segments found must be large enough to allow economically profitable processing.
Limited informative value Many segmentation methods do not adequately meet the above requirements. This is because the sociodemographic characteristics used are rarely sufficient to accurately describe the diversity and individuality of consumers, their preferences and needs.
When it comes to purchasing behavior relevance, sociodemographics reaches its limits. In fact, even so-called "sociodemographic twins" - as mentioned in the example - can sometimes differ greatly from each other.
Formal similarities and even a comparable social situation can be associated with very different lifestyles and values. Consumption and brand preference are determined by things other than sociodemographics. All too often, selective considerations of individual characteristics such as school education, age or salary bracket lead to erroneous conclusions and thus to misinvestment of the marketing budget. In order to arrive at a realistic segmentation that is also relevant to actual purchasing behavior, the consumer's everyday life and social environment must also be included in the analysis. After all, these factors determine his or her lifestyle.
While the informative value of conventional target group definitions is very limited, the prognostic horizon of a segmentation can be considerably expanded by including consumers' lifestyles and aesthetic preferences. This is where the Sinus Milieus segmentation method from Sinus Sociovision comes in.
Everyday life-related target groupsTarget group determination using this method is based on the lifeworld analysis of modern societies. The term "lifeworld" includes various areas of experience in a consumer's everyday life. It includes the areas of work, family, leisure, consumption and media. The method assumes that each individual area makes a significant contribution to the development and change of attitudes, behavior patterns and values. Everyday perceptions, wishes, fears and expectations for the future are also recorded.
The Sinus Milieus summarize groups of like-minded people who agree on their outlook on life and their way of life. The result of Sinus Lifeworld research is the delineation and description of social milieus and their respective market potentials. This segmentation can be applied to a wide variety of markets. The Sinus Milieus are lifelike target groups with relatively high descriptive and predictive power, because they are derived directly from the everyday lives of the people surveyed. Regular model updates also guarantee that long-term changes in everyday reality are reflected in the milieu structure.
The milieus identified after extensive qualitative interviews and representative quantitative surveys are plotted on a "strategic map" determined by the two dimensions "social situation" (y-axis) and "basic orientation" (x-axis). For better orientation, each axis is again divided into three sections.
For the classification of the milieus, the following applies in principle: The higher the
milieu is arranged on the y-axis (social position), the more upscale its education, income and occupational group. For the classification on the x-axis, the further to the right it extends, the more modern the milieu is in its basic orientation. It is in the nature of things that the boundaries between the milieus are fluid. Lifeworlds cannot be separated from one another as precisely and without overlap as groups formed on the basis of purely sociodemographic criteria.
The Sinus Milieus become even more tangible than on the strategic map in the visualization through the "living worlds" of the individual milieus - because a person's attitude to life and aesthetic sensibilities are usually expressed quite directly in the design of their immediate surroundings. In contrast to clothing, jewelry, make-up or hairstyle, the design of the home is also hardly subject to short-term trends. The different lifestyles of the various milieus can therefore be underpinned and clarified by (authentic) visual material of the respective living environments.
Using the mechanism "Show me how you live, and I'll tell you who you are," this visualization based on the living worlds gives product managers, and above all creative people, valuable information for the marketing instruments and the advertising approach. The living environment allows you to put yourself in the shoes of the target group by standing in their living room, so to speak.
Performers and escapistsTen different milieus have been identified for Switzerland, each characterized by very different combinations of individual values, attitudes, leisure activities and everyday aesthetics. In order to achieve a certain strategic concentration for marketing and media planning, these ten individual milieus can be grouped into four larger lifeworld segments. Specifically, these are: the leading social milieus (which include the arrivist, the post-materialist and the modern performer), the mainstream milieus (the status-oriented, the middle-class and the consumption-oriented workers), the traditional milieus (with the subgroups of the traditional middle-class milieu and the frugal traditionalists) and finally the unconventional, young milieus (with the experimentalist and the escapist milieus).
Differences can be seen not only between the milieus, but also between the three language regions of Switzerland. While values such as performance awareness and self-confidence, a certain technological optimism and an orientation toward material status dominate in German-speaking Switzerland, regional identity is emphasized in French-speaking Switzerland. Here, general openness to the world goes hand in hand with an orientation toward experience, enjoyment of life and lower material demands. There are also clear differences between German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino: In the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, striving for status and prestige is only of secondary importance. Here, traditional values predominate (for example, in terms of work ethic and gender role distribution), with a pronounced family orientation and need for harmony meeting with a certain fear of the future.
The Sinus Milieus are used for a wide variety of objectives: They are used for the differentiated description of customer and buyer groups, they can be used for the early detection and localization of changes in attitudes, for the definition of new market segments when introducing new products to the market or for relaunches. They can also be used to position products and services, to identify market niches, or to efficiently address buyer groups and avoid wastage in advertising communications.
In the media sector, target-group-specific perception, evaluation and use of the various media can be investigated in parallel with quantitative reach research as part of various qualitative studies. The milieu-specific motives for use, preferences, affinities and barriers of the milieus to various advertising media can thus be used to derive valuable information for target-group-specific communication. Above all, linking the Sinus Milieus with existing data, for example in audience measurement, offers media planners and advertising clients as well as program planners and broadcast designers practical information.
This approach has already been tested in neighboring countries: In Germany, the milieu approach has been used since the mid-1990s to determine the milieu-specific reach of important print advertising media. Compared with conventional target group approaches, the differentiation of the Sinus milieus is very good, especially in the special interest sector. Milieu-specific evaluations are also used successfully in the TV sector: In Germany, the Sinus milieus have been integrated into the AGF/GfK television panel, the TV ratings measurement of the German TV stations, since the beginning of 2000. In Austria, evaluation by Sinus milieus has been available since early 2002 as part of TV research with Teletest.
In addition to previous target group analyses, which are mainly based on sociodemographic characteristics, TV use in Germany and Austria can also be analyzed by milieu. It turns out that media choice and media use vary according to milieu. Differences can also be seen, above all, in the type of television use, the average viewing time per day, the preferred programs, and the respective affinity for online use and the use of teletext services. Comparable evaluations will be available from September 2003 by linking the Swiss Sinus Milieus with the
Telecontrol data also available for the Swiss market
stand.
Personal values shape consumers' lifestylesThe generic term "lifestyle" covers selected combinations of a person's typical behavior. On the one hand, lifestyle comprises external behavioral characteristics (for example, leisure behavior, habits, etc.), and on the other hand, psychological variables
of a person such as general values, attitudes or opinions. The lifestyle of a person or a group is captured via a system of relationships between situational factors and observable factors (activities), emotionally conditioned behavior (interests), and cognitive orientations and values (orientations) of the person in question (AIO approach).
Personal values, in particular, are increasingly being used to capture and typify consumers' lifestyles. The Heidelberg-based Sinus Sociovision Institute assumes that the fundamental values that shape a consumer are relatively independent of situational changes and short-term trends.
The higher the temporal stability of the criteria used, the more
Their prognostic significance and relevance for purchasing behavior is also greater.
Ad person
To be practical, the segmentation criteria have to meet various requirements. First of all, they must be measurable. Furthermore, the criteria used for measurement must have qualitative explanatory power with regard to purchasing behavior. In addition, the identified segments should be clearly addressable and exhibit a certain stability over time. Finally, the way a company segments its target market influences the allocation of resources and thus the future development of the company. It therefore makes sense to always keep the development of the next three to five years in mind when segmenting. And ultimately, the segments found must be large enough to allow economically profitable processing.
Limited informative value Many segmentation methods do not adequately meet the above requirements. This is because the sociodemographic characteristics used are rarely sufficient to accurately describe the diversity and individuality of consumers, their preferences and needs.
When it comes to purchasing behavior relevance, sociodemographics reaches its limits. In fact, even so-called "sociodemographic twins" - as mentioned in the example - can sometimes differ greatly from each other.
Formal similarities and even a comparable social situation can be associated with very different lifestyles and values. Consumption and brand preference are determined by things other than sociodemographics. All too often, selective considerations of individual characteristics such as school education, age or salary bracket lead to erroneous conclusions and thus to misinvestment of the marketing budget. In order to arrive at a realistic segmentation that is also relevant to actual purchasing behavior, the consumer's everyday life and social environment must also be included in the analysis. After all, these factors determine his or her lifestyle.
While the informative value of conventional target group definitions is very limited, the prognostic horizon of a segmentation can be considerably expanded by including consumers' lifestyles and aesthetic preferences. This is where the Sinus Milieus segmentation method from Sinus Sociovision comes in.
Everyday life-related target groupsTarget group determination using this method is based on the lifeworld analysis of modern societies. The term "lifeworld" includes various areas of experience in a consumer's everyday life. It includes the areas of work, family, leisure, consumption and media. The method assumes that each individual area makes a significant contribution to the development and change of attitudes, behavior patterns and values. Everyday perceptions, wishes, fears and expectations for the future are also recorded.
The Sinus Milieus summarize groups of like-minded people who agree on their outlook on life and their way of life. The result of Sinus Lifeworld research is the delineation and description of social milieus and their respective market potentials. This segmentation can be applied to a wide variety of markets. The Sinus Milieus are lifelike target groups with relatively high descriptive and predictive power, because they are derived directly from the everyday lives of the people surveyed. Regular model updates also guarantee that long-term changes in everyday reality are reflected in the milieu structure.
The milieus identified after extensive qualitative interviews and representative quantitative surveys are plotted on a "strategic map" determined by the two dimensions "social situation" (y-axis) and "basic orientation" (x-axis). For better orientation, each axis is again divided into three sections.
For the classification of the milieus, the following applies in principle: The higher the
milieu is arranged on the y-axis (social position), the more upscale its education, income and occupational group. For the classification on the x-axis, the further to the right it extends, the more modern the milieu is in its basic orientation. It is in the nature of things that the boundaries between the milieus are fluid. Lifeworlds cannot be separated from one another as precisely and without overlap as groups formed on the basis of purely sociodemographic criteria.
The Sinus Milieus become even more tangible than on the strategic map in the visualization through the "living worlds" of the individual milieus - because a person's attitude to life and aesthetic sensibilities are usually expressed quite directly in the design of their immediate surroundings. In contrast to clothing, jewelry, make-up or hairstyle, the design of the home is also hardly subject to short-term trends. The different lifestyles of the various milieus can therefore be underpinned and clarified by (authentic) visual material of the respective living environments.
Using the mechanism "Show me how you live, and I'll tell you who you are," this visualization based on the living worlds gives product managers, and above all creative people, valuable information for the marketing instruments and the advertising approach. The living environment allows you to put yourself in the shoes of the target group by standing in their living room, so to speak.
Performers and escapistsTen different milieus have been identified for Switzerland, each characterized by very different combinations of individual values, attitudes, leisure activities and everyday aesthetics. In order to achieve a certain strategic concentration for marketing and media planning, these ten individual milieus can be grouped into four larger lifeworld segments. Specifically, these are: the leading social milieus (which include the arrivist, the post-materialist and the modern performer), the mainstream milieus (the status-oriented, the middle-class and the consumption-oriented workers), the traditional milieus (with the subgroups of the traditional middle-class milieu and the frugal traditionalists) and finally the unconventional, young milieus (with the experimentalist and the escapist milieus).
Differences can be seen not only between the milieus, but also between the three language regions of Switzerland. While values such as performance awareness and self-confidence, a certain technological optimism and an orientation toward material status dominate in German-speaking Switzerland, regional identity is emphasized in French-speaking Switzerland. Here, general openness to the world goes hand in hand with an orientation toward experience, enjoyment of life and lower material demands. There are also clear differences between German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino: In the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, striving for status and prestige is only of secondary importance. Here, traditional values predominate (for example, in terms of work ethic and gender role distribution), with a pronounced family orientation and need for harmony meeting with a certain fear of the future.
The Sinus Milieus are used for a wide variety of objectives: They are used for the differentiated description of customer and buyer groups, they can be used for the early detection and localization of changes in attitudes, for the definition of new market segments when introducing new products to the market or for relaunches. They can also be used to position products and services, to identify market niches, or to efficiently address buyer groups and avoid wastage in advertising communications.
In the media sector, target-group-specific perception, evaluation and use of the various media can be investigated in parallel with quantitative reach research as part of various qualitative studies. The milieu-specific motives for use, preferences, affinities and barriers of the milieus to various advertising media can thus be used to derive valuable information for target-group-specific communication. Above all, linking the Sinus Milieus with existing data, for example in audience measurement, offers media planners and advertising clients as well as program planners and broadcast designers practical information.
This approach has already been tested in neighboring countries: In Germany, the milieu approach has been used since the mid-1990s to determine the milieu-specific reach of important print advertising media. Compared with conventional target group approaches, the differentiation of the Sinus milieus is very good, especially in the special interest sector. Milieu-specific evaluations are also used successfully in the TV sector: In Germany, the Sinus milieus have been integrated into the AGF/GfK television panel, the TV ratings measurement of the German TV stations, since the beginning of 2000. In Austria, evaluation by Sinus milieus has been available since early 2002 as part of TV research with Teletest.
In addition to previous target group analyses, which are mainly based on sociodemographic characteristics, TV use in Germany and Austria can also be analyzed by milieu. It turns out that media choice and media use vary according to milieu. Differences can also be seen, above all, in the type of television use, the average viewing time per day, the preferred programs, and the respective affinity for online use and the use of teletext services. Comparable evaluations will be available from September 2003 by linking the Swiss Sinus Milieus with the
Telecontrol data also available for the Swiss market
stand.
Personal values shape consumers' lifestylesThe generic term "lifestyle" covers selected combinations of a person's typical behavior. On the one hand, lifestyle comprises external behavioral characteristics (for example, leisure behavior, habits, etc.), and on the other hand, psychological variables
of a person such as general values, attitudes or opinions. The lifestyle of a person or a group is captured via a system of relationships between situational factors and observable factors (activities), emotionally conditioned behavior (interests), and cognitive orientations and values (orientations) of the person in question (AIO approach).
Personal values, in particular, are increasingly being used to capture and typify consumers' lifestyles. The Heidelberg-based Sinus Sociovision Institute assumes that the fundamental values that shape a consumer are relatively independent of situational changes and short-term trends.
The higher the temporal stability of the criteria used, the more
Their prognostic significance and relevance for purchasing behavior is also greater.
Ad person
Kerstin Schoegel is a project manager at the HTP St.Gallen Management AG Institute, which works closely with Professor Torsten Tomczak, Director of the Institute for Marketing and Commerce at the University of St.Gallen. Schoegel's main areas of work are strategic marketing, market research, customer satisfaction and market-oriented corporate management.
Sinus Milieus in Switzerland, too
Successful communication requires comprehensive knowledge of consumers, their preferences and habits - incorrect target group definitions lead to scattering and efficiency losses. The
The more precisely one wants to capture the individual preferences of consumers, the more necessary it proves to describe target groups beyond socio-demographic characteristics. For this reason, numerous companies and agencies in Germany have been using
the Sinus Milieus of the Heidelberg-based Sinus Sociovision to determine target groups. The model is now also used in numerous other EU countries as well as in most Eastern European countries and in North America.
Starting in the fall of 2003, this methodology, which is based on consumers' lifestyles and lifeworlds, will also be available to Swiss marketing and communications managers. The initiator and client of the Swiss study is Publisuisse, with the following partners: SRG-Forschungsdienst, PDAG, Credit Suisse and Sinus Sociovision GmbH. In three episodes, Werbewoche will present the Sinus Milieus of Switzerland. (sh)
Kerstin Schoegel
