CHapter Overview

In this chapter, we first provide a background on the concept and marketing application of lifestyle. We then introduce the notion of role-related product constellations and the idea that consumer products and services are complementary, that is, from the consumers perspective they "go together" to help them express personal and group identity. We next discuss psychographics and AIO as ways of operationalizing lifestyle research. Next we discuss how lifestyles segmentation studies have been used by firms to link segments and products, to position products, and to target media vehicles effectively. Several highly influential commercial lifestyles segmentation schemes, VALS, LOVs, Global Scan and others are explored. These schemes emphasize the values components of psychological orientation and provide a starting point for segmentation in particular industries. The chapter then changes gears somewhat to introduce you to the topic of geodemographic segmentation methods. These methods differ somewhat from classical lifestyles segmentation, but like lifestyles segmentation create reachable, sizable consumer groupings that are relatively homogeneous with regards to key demographic and behavioral variables. We then provide a discussion of the use of psychographic tools such as the Yankelovich Monitor to chart social and cultural lifestyle trends. We conclude with a discussion of some of the limitations of lifestyle research, and an emergent perspective that seeks to bring a more explicitly cultural perspective into lifestyles research.