What Is Lifestyle Targeting? Definition of Lifestyle Targeting, Lifestyle Targeting Meaning and Concept

Lifestyle segmentation is a way of segmenting the market that goes beyond the income that people have. Thus, it takes into account variables such as the activities carried out by people, the interests that move them and the opinions they express.

Indeed, lifestyle segmentation is a way used to segment the market according to variables such as behavior, motivations and values ​​that influence consumer behavior.

Consequently, lifestyle segmentation, by not taking into account only economic variables, provides a broader view of consumers. That is, it does not only consider what the person has, but what each individual expects, wants and how they spend their money .

However, it is a type of segmentation that is more difficult to carry out, but, once elaborated, it can give better results. This, given that there is a better understanding of the consumer, which requires marketing to detect the changes that occur in lifestyles.

Why is it important to segment by lifestyle?

Certainly, a company using lifestyle targeting can learn many aspects of the consumer. Among them, how the person lives, what he communicates with his actions, his individual and family habits. All these elements influence the positive or negative attitude they manifest towards their clients. products .

Likewise, each person's lifestyle reflects attitudes, values, interests and feelings. These factors are decisive in its market behavior. For marketing, lifestyle is very important because it generates a pattern of consumer behavior.

Above all, consumer behavior patterns allow knowing the buyer's aspirations and the factors that influence their decision when choosing products in the market . The variables that most affect these decisions are the values, beliefs and interests of the person.

The VALS1 system and lifestyle

The Stanford Research Institute carried out a study in 1978 to analyze the changes that society presented in the 1960s, considering that people change their purchasing attitudes throughout their lives. The VALS1 system determined lifestyle according to people's activities and interests.

Based on this study, they classified consumers into three groups:

• Principle-oriented consumers: These are the people who make their purchases thinking about how the world should be.
• Status-oriented consumers : They make their choices based on the opinions and attitudes of other people.
• Action-oriented consumers: These are consumers who decide their purchases according to activity, variety and risk.

The VALS2 system and lifestyle

Then, in 1998, a review of the VALS1 study was carried out, considering that the most important aspects of people's lifestyles are psychographic factors, developing the following classification:

• People who are very involved in the purchase decision: They are the people who live the purchase process intensely and therefore give it a lot of importance.
• People whose purchasing behavior is systematic and routine: These are consumers who buy products that do not have a great impact on their income . They may think of them as basic products that are purchased very frequently.
• People who buy on impulse: They are all those people who do not plan their purchases and take advantage of the opportunities that arise in the market. They have no preference for a certain product or a certain brand .

Lifestyles according to the VALS study

Based on the previous studies, the following lifestyles are defined:

1. By self orientation

Among the lifestyles based on the self-orientation of consumers, we find the following classification:

to. principle oriented

• Compliant: They are very organized, self-confident, intellectual, mature and satisfied people.
• Believers: There are people who are respectful, literal, loyal, practical and very conservative.

b. status oriented

• Achievers: These are highly conventional, down-to-earth, achievement-oriented, career-focused, and highly brand-aware individuals.
• Effortful: People who are very enthusiastic, modern, very sociable and not very sure of themselves.

c. action oriented

• Experimenters: They are impatient, spontaneous, very impulsive, enthusiastic and young individuals.
• Doers: Includes the group of people who are self-sufficient, very practical and, above all, family-oriented.

2. Due to the availability of resources

Taking consumer resources as a reference, we find the following lifestyles:

• Innovators: They are very independent people, leaders, capable of taking risks, active and successful.
• Fighters: They are cautious, conservative, low-income, conformist, and low-educated people.

In conclusion, we can say that lifestyle segmentation is very important for marketing. Since, in this segmentation, not only economic variables are taken into account, but also attitudes, values, interests, opinions and motivations of people are added. With all these variables, each person forms their own self-concept, which allows us to have a better idea of ​​how the consumer behaves in the market.