Improve Response Rates Using Psychographic Research
Psychographic research and advertising is based on the mind of the consumer and how they think. Psychographic research attempts to identify characteristics of consumers that may affect their reaction to various products, services, advertising, marketing and promotional messages. Yet, unlike traditional focus group research it has the objective of gathering insights about the values, beliefs, attitudes and motivations of different consumer groups, largely based on the unconscious drivers that determine their behavioural responses. Psychographic research can recognize similar values, attitude, lifestyle or personality traits within what appear to be detached demographic groups.
From a marketing perspective the two most useful variables used in psychographic segmentation are the values and beliefs of the audience. Values are measured in order to distinguish which communications are most likely to engage, persuade and motivate a given audience, whereas a detailed understanding of their beliefs enables the marketing professional to decide which objections to handle in order to prompt purchase. This valuable information is increasingly being used to measure, develop and predict the effect of advertising communication. So the modern marketing professional will forget the usefulness of psychographic research at their peril as it is a vital step towards understanding why consumers behave the way that they do.
Regular Market Research
Many classic research companies are cautious in their use of psychographic techniques for marketing and advertising research, primarily because it is so difficult to elicit, calculate and apply to advertising and marketing applications. Yet there are a growing number of research agencies who specialise in this type of applied research or to use the latest buzzword – research for marketing.
Psychographic Research
Psychographics should not be mixed up with demographics. Psychographics is a more sophisticated form of demographics that includes soft data information about the psychological and sociological characteristics of the audience. We have already suggested that it can reveal the values, beliefs, attitudes and motivations of an audience but it can also, if conducted properly elicit emotional responses, psychometric preferences and ideological beliefs. In the growing need for advertising effectiveness, these psychographic insights are every bit as significant as the more regular demographic factors, if not more so.
This is not a new discipline as psychographic research has been used for market segmentation for decades and is increasingly relied upon heavily by the advertising world. Specifically because of its effectiveness in helping to increase communication ROI by examining values, beliefs and motivations. Psychographics are designed return on investment or ROI. Yet its real benefit is in the way it can quantify the consumer’s predisposition to buy a product, the influences that stimulate buying behaviour and the association between the consumer’s perception of the product benefits and his/her lifestyle, interests and opinions. This is why psychographicsare increasingly used to guide the customer’s journey and their connection with the brand.
Increase response rates with psychographic research
It’s true that market research industry has no distinct definition for psychographics, it should help a business distinguish more about their customer’s attitudes and beliefs and more importantly provide the information to help communicate with them more effectively. If you want to retail more products in an increasingly competitive marketplace, don’t neglect the significance of psychographic research.
More detail on psychographics are featured in a free booklet on market research uk available to all marketing professionals who wish to improve their response rates. Courtesy of espconsultancy.com the marketing research specialists.
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