The demographics in the United States are changing rapidly, due to a combination of declining birth rates and increasing immigration. The minority and multiracial populations are growing, especially among the young. This shift has produced greater interest in and mixing of cultures, creating fusions from kimchi tacos to hip-hop line dancing. The lines between groups are blurrier than before, so trying to fit consumers into broad demographic groups doesn’t work like it used to.
Many people in Generation Z don’t conform to demographic expectations based on age, gender, or ethnic group—they like to pick and choose cultural influences to create a unique identity. Savvy brands have realized that these young people are not looking for inclusiveness as much as individuality.
For marketers targeting younger consumers, this necessitates a new strategy: appealing to psychographics, not demographics, and marketing to individuals, not groups. Demographics may tell you which broad groups the customer belongs to, but psychographics can tell you what the customer likes and wants to purchase.
One simple but effective way to market to psychographics is to let customers customize their purchases. Scion, Toyota’s downmarket brand, was ahead of the curve on this trend, launching in 2003 with the hook of letting buyers customize their cars. The ten-year anniversary commercial features a diverse cast of Scion owners who are celebrating “making your own tracks.”
Other brands that appeal to young people’s desire to do their own thing include Vans, which lets customers design their own sneakers; Pottery Barn’s youthful brand PB Teen, which lets teens design their own beds; and Pretty Please, which lets shoppers pick a nail polish color and name it whatever they want. Even long-established brands like Coca-Cola and M&M’s are producing customized products.
Giving customers creative control requires a robust online platform and flexible manufacturing capabilities, which may not be feasible for smaller companies. But there are other ways to use psychographics to your advantage, and we’ll explore them in a future post.
Tags: Behavioral ScienceConsumer BehaviorConsumer SegmentationConsumer SegmentsEye TrackingGlobal RetailingProduct DesignRetailShopper ResearchTrends