Psychographics Can Help Your Business Improve Sales

Businesses can explode or die a slow agonizing death over years of product misalignment! Success comes through having a deeper sense of what kind of products and services your customers demand. The very personality of your customers will determine whether they spend their hard earned money on your product or somewhere else. Delving into how customers view themselves and their lifestyle tells you something about the products they want.

Psycho-graphics is the study of personality based preferences in terms of lifestyles and product preferences. Knowing and understanding customer's mental "inner workings" helps companies offer products and services that appeal to customers on a deeper self-image level. If your going to engage in the process of getting to know your customers you will want to understand the benefits of psycho-graphics.

Sociology and Psychology are very much part of consumer analysis. Each of us has a personality that influences the way in which we see the world and the products and services we want. Our purchases say something about who we are and how we think. Studying how personality impacts choices and decisions helps us bundle, pair, and sell more products.

Psycho Relies on Big Data Collected from Everywhere

Psycho means mental activities while graphics means categories. Thus psycho-graphics studies mental differences that can be categorized for making broad conclusions about consumers. Studying such differences is a science in itself and relies on lots of big data to draw conclusion. To reach a level of scientific confidence the sample sizes generally need to be large and utilize multiple ways of drawing information from the massive amount of information. Such consumer information are drawn from browsers, purchase histories, companies, e-marketplaces, sold information, etc....

An Example of How Outdoor Jackets Influence Legislation

What a person buys may also indicate their lifestyle, beliefs and values. Consider that buying an outdoor jacket might also mean the person is likely to engage in camping trips or promote wildlife refuge legislation. In other words, those who are willing to spend the extra money on outdoor jackets may also find adventure trips exciting. With psycho-graphics its becomes possible to offer more value for customers at your business by catering to their mental lifestyle processes.

Psycho-Graphics Focuses on Differences in Attitudes and Interests

Let us consider differences in psycho-graphics between comparison and non-comparison shoppers. Comparison shoppers enjoy shopping more than non-comparison shoppers but were similar in achievement orientation, optimism, spirited living and happiness (Mittal, 2016).  We can see that people who comparison shop had differences in their behavioral patterns. Companies may consider the shopping experience to increase purchasing.

Psycho-Graphics and Multi-Faceted but Interrelated Interests

Psycho-Graphics considers the bleeding of interests around a focused theme. In other words, people of a certain lifestyle (theme) revert back to that self-image that theme projects to make decisions over products and services. For example, a study found that people interested in environmentally friendly wine also held interest in protecting the environment (Nelson, Pei-Jou, Bishop, et. al., 2012). There interest in environmentally friendly lifestyles impacted their political and product leanings.

Shopping Patterns and Styles

Psycho-Graphics can even tell you something about strategies and enjoyment from shopping. For example, comparison shoppers were on a tight budget and view themselves as more savvy shoppers when compared to other groups (Mittal, 2016). Both types of shoppers were similar in achievement orientation, optimism, spirited living and happiness.

How Does this Help Your Business?

Your business should consider the natural differences in personality and lifestyle of customers that will help offer additional products and services that will be more appealing to your customers. Not all businesses have just one type of customers but may have a couple of different kids of customers. That is ok! Once you know the psycho-graphics of your customer you can then bundle special deals, offer products in a similar area, create a brand, and even better know what advertising channels are likely to work the best. If you own a website you will want to include content and pictures that support that lifestyle. The same can be said with causes and activities.

Anderson, T..; Golden, L. (1984). Lifestyle and psychographics: A critical review and recommendation. Advances in Consumer Research. 11: 405–411.

Banwari, M. (2016). Psycho-graphic of comparison shoppers. The Journal of Consumer Marketing. Santa Barbara, 33 (1). 20-31

Barber, N., Kuo, P. Bishiop, M. et al. (2012). Measuring psychographics to assess purchase intention and willingness to pay. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 29 (4).