Target Market Psychographics By: Jen Hedgespeth

Target Market Psychographics
Jen Hedgespeth

In order to promote a product such as the SonySalveo you must conduct research into your target market to gain a better understanding of the psychographic aspects of your product. If you don’t know what the attitudes, motivations and values of your target market are then you have no way of promoting your product correctly to enhance the company’s profit. If your product is not enhanced than it is taken off the market. That is why I conducted research into the motivations, self concept, values and attitudes, life, money, and finally social class of 35-55 year olds. Our products main purpose is to count calories. However it is also used as a devise to listen to while working out at the gym. You will want to take your Salveo with you wherever you go. Since the Salveo is such a device that is useful to health conscious people we decided to promote our product at gyms and health centers. That is why I researched and got into the heads of 35-55 year olds who go to gyms and health centers.
What are the motivations of 35-55 year olds who go to gyms? One motivation may be to improve your mood. According to a website called mayoclinic, research shows that it may take at least 30 minutes of exercise a day for at least three to five days a week to significantly improve symptoms of depression. The Salveo will keep you going as you exercise. Another motivation among 35-55 age range is that it keeps the mind sharp. People in this age range especially want to be concerned with staying healthy. According to the National Institutes of Health the most inactive individuals are 2.5 times more likely to develop dementia than regular exercisers. Exercising also reduces your chances of heart disease. It suggests not viewing exercise as weight loss but the key to a healthy lifestyle. Although part of the SoneySalveos duty is to induce in weight loss it is important that users don’t abuse it and try to get as slim as possible. Its purpose is to promote a healthy weight. Other motivations may include improved sleep, improves resilience in the face of stress and raises self-esteem. These are all reasons why the SonySalveo should be promoted at the gym

The next topic researched of the target market is the self concept of what the target market is. According to American Attitudes in 2002 the majority of respondents (46.1%) in a survey rated their health status as good. The next highest was excellent then fair with 17.4% (General Social Surveys, National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago) The book states that one factor that explains the stability of the American population is the rising educational level. The better educated the better his or her reported health. We want all education levels to be healthy so the SonySalveo is more geared to people with all educational backgrounds. The less educated may be more inspired to get into shape with our product. Another important aspect of a persons self concept is their general happiness. In a survey in the book American Attitudes, Americans have remained stable over the past thirty years. It is important that the users of SonySalveo remain happy because if they are depressed they are in no mood to motivate themselves to spend money for our product and go to the gym. However the healthy people who are avoiding depression are the ones who will be putting the product to great use. In a survey in 2002 30.3% of adults rated themselves very happy. The majority rated themselves as pretty happy (57.2%). Only a low 12.4% rated themselves not very happy.
Another important aspect of psychographics is the values and attitudes of the users of SonySalveo. According to the American Attitudes book the number of people who agree “most people can be trusted” has declined. In 1972, 46 percent of Americans agreed that “most people can be trusted as opposed to only 34 percent in 2002. Similarly there has been an upward trend believing that “most people would try to take advantage of you if given the chance (American Attitudes 56). In 1972 only 34% believed this and increased to 40% by 2002. It is important that people using the product are not misled into thinking they are getting ripped off. People at this target market range value family, health and their work life the most.
Another aspect mentioned is the Life of the users of the SonySalveo. Outside of work what do people of this age range do? A lot of the time you can find them socializing with family. According to American Attitudes 55 percent majority socialize with relatives at least several times a month (110). In another book titled American Generations people of this age range spend about 2,519 dollars on average on entertainment. This says to some degree people of this category life is spent on fees and admissions, television, radio, sound equipment, and other entertainment supplies, and services. Also a lot participate in church and few participate in a political party, club, or association. Only about 9.8% have participated more than twice.
The next aspect of psychographics is money. In the American Attitudes book only 29.9% of people were satisfied with their income. The biggest category was more or less satisfied where 41.4% of people fall into. While most people are satisfied with their income it appears in another survey that 49.7% of people are very satisfied with the work that they do. Only 3.8% were very dissatisfied. In another book titled The Baby Boom: Americans Born 1946 to 1964 it shows that the median income of people between the age of 35-54 falls between 42,409 to 59,845 a year.
Finally the last aspect of psychographics is the social class of people in this age range. People in this age category have a good degree of power because they have already been through a lot of their life and are looked up to by younger individuals. For instance in The baby boom: Americans Born 1946 to 1964 it states that among married couples aged 35 to 54, 63 percent have children under age 18 at home, with most having one or two children living with them. Therefore they are looked up upon by the younger age. Also most have been through work experiences and have worked their way up to the highest they will go in a company by this age. They are probably the most confident of the age groups.












Works Cited

Russell Cheryl. The Baby Boom Americans Born 1946 to 1964. Copyright 2004. Ithaca, New York Printed in the United States of America.

The editors of the New Strategist Publications. American Generations: Who they are and how they live. Copyright 2005. Ithaca, New York Printed in the United States of America.

The editors of the New Strategist Publications. American Attitudes: What Americans Think about the Issues that shapes their lives. Copyright 2005. Printed in the United States