As a professional marketer, you know that people buy products and services based on their lifestyles. Beyond basic geographic and demographic variables, psychographic segmentation is key to successfully connecting the right product or services with the right group of customers. With today’s growing technology, professional marketers use an array of different tools for market segmentation. Today, I took the time to evaluate the VALS survey. Upon completion, I came to the conclusion that it is a weak segmentation tool and marketers should not rely on it for predicting consumers’ behavior.
Firstly, what is VALS?
VALS stands for “Values and Lifestyles,” and it is a well known survey used for psychographic market segmentation. It was developed in 1978 by Arnold Mitchell and segments adults into eight mindsets using psychological traits that drive consumer behavior.
Upon taking the survey, I found that my primary VALS type is Innovator, and my secondary VALS type is Experiencer. The description went on to say that Innovators are always taking in information, experiment, are future-oriented, believe science and research & development are credible, are cultured, and enjoy problem solving. Experiencers go against mainstream, love physical activity, and are spontaneous.
At first glance, I would say this is mostly an accurate description of me. I am always asking questions to get more information. I am comfortable with experimentation. I would say I am “cultured,” as I am a first generation American, half German and half Chinese and have traveled outside the United States. I enjoy problem solving, and absolutely believe in science and research & development. I exercise every day and am spontaneous.
Why do I believe this is a weak segmentation tool?
My hurdle is that I noticed that many of the questions were written from a Christian nation perspective. For example, “just as the Bible says, the world was literally created in six days,” or “the federal government should encourage prayers in public schools.” While I understand the intent of seeing whether people believe in science and religion, I believe this is too polarized. This survey categorizes a person as a religious Christian or not. For instance, a person can be both innovative, community oriented, and believe and basic rights and wrongs to lead a good life. A person can be both an experiencer and work hard, committed to a family and job.
My best recommendation would be to stay in touch with your customers. Create surveys to gain a better insight into your customer’s preferences and partner with your customer service team, since they are on the front lines for receiving customer feedback. A plethora of psychographic data is available on Google and Facebook, as they are essentially always gathering data. For example Facebook’s business manager allows users to set up detailed targeting based on interests and behaviors. Google assigns interests to users, and marketers can use that data to create psychographic segments.
In closing, The VALS survey was created more than 40 years ago, and while there have been updates, the methodology is largely outdated. While it is a tool that can offer value, if used alone, there is a risk of alienating subject groups and producing unreliable results. It is better to implement a more current method into your marketing strategy.
Written by Kimberly O’Hanlon
Essay for BA390: Principles of Marketing Online
Instructor: Nicole Brown, M.A.
January 27th, 2020
