In this lesson, we did editing our blog posts by categorising them. Then we looked at demographics and psychographics.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Demographics ~ Who they are
The characteristics of the person, such as their age and income
There are three types of Demographics:
Professional / Managerial: Higher paying professional roles and lower-paying management roles. These can be Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers, Directors and managers.
Intermediate: Office & service workers and lower-paying supervisor & technical roles also include Nurses, Health Care Workers, Heating Engineers, Plumbers and Shop Assistants
Routine / Unemployed: Low paying routine jobs, part-time occupations, unemployed people, living with benefits. The jobs would be the type that anyone could do, with no real qualifications needed.
There is also an old Social Class System that has 6 categories. This is still used by media publishers so that they can market for their chosen audience.
A Upper Middle-Class Doctor, Banker, Lawyer
B Middle-Class Teacher, Architect, Computer Programmer
C1 Lower Middle-Class Shop Manager, Office Manager, Social Worker
C2 Skilled Working Class Joiner, Heating Engineer, Nurse, Chef
D Working Class Labourer, server, Shop Assistants
E Those at the lowest level of substance State Pensioners, Casual or low-grade workers, Unemployed and on Benefits
The media like to aim their formats and genres at certain groups of people depending on their sex or income to maximise their income, money and views. These groups could be; Gender/Age, Employment status, Sexual Orientation, Qualifications, Relationship Status, Household Income and Disabilities, Medicine, Mental Health.
PSYCHOGRAPHICS
Psychographics why they buy
What a person is like, what they are into, their hobbies, habits and traits. Some types could be Career-minded, family people, pet owners, Sports fans, Football Supporters, Enjoys lots of holidays.
There are seven different psychographics:
Mainstreamers: Crowd followers, Seek security. Be domestic, conformist, conventional, sentimental–favourable for money family brands. The largest group, about 40% of the general population.
Aspirers: People who want to appear rich with money and beauty, seek status, materialistic, acquisitive, orientated to image and appearance, persona and fashion. Typically, younger people. Examples would be some Facebook users who use filters on photos of themselves and only show good things in their lives. Influencers could also be put in this category.
Succeeders: Seeks control. Strong goals, confidence, work ethic and organisation. Typically, higher management and professionals.
Resigned: Seeks survival. Rigid and authoritarian values. Interested in past and tradition. Typically, older generations. Examples would be people that do not believe in something that the majority do. For example COVID-19 some people still believe this is not real and refuse to wear masks and abide by the Government rules.
Explorers: Open to change, Seeks discovery, Energy, individualism, and experience. Values, difference and adventure. Typically, younger demographic (students)
Strugglers: Seeks to escape. Alienated and disorganised. Few resources beyond physical skills. Buys alcohol, junk food, lottery tickets. Typically ‘lower’ demographics/income.
Reformers: Seeks enlightenment. Freedom of restrictions and personal growth. Social awareness and independent judgment. Anti-materialistic but aware of good taste, socially aware & not influenced by brand/status, they are likely to buy goods that are good for the environment. Self-improvement. Examples of this type of person would be an environmentalist, vegetarian, vegan and someone against animal testing. They would not be influenced by a brand if it was tested on animals, even if it was promoted as absolutely brilliant.
Demographics and psychographics go hand in hand
An example of a person would be
Demographics ~ Married, Male, Age 48, wages £120,000 per year, live in the UK, Director of his Psychographics ~ Formula 1 fan, Values family life, Loves holidays, has a pet dog, Enjoys eating out, theatre & cinema
We looked at demographics and psychographics for our fantasy brief here:
