Geodemographics

Related to social class is a newer system of classifying consumers based upon where they live. A small number of proprietary systems exist based upon the census and categories of neighbourhoods.

One such system is ACORN, which stands for A Classification Of h

Residential Neighbourhoods and is owned by CACI; Pinpoint is F

another. These systems are derived from statistical analysis of census h variables to discover residential areas, usually census enumeration n districts comprising about 150 households and approximately 450 o people, that are distinct in composition. ns

The census data can be linked to survey data on purchasing behaviour m

and information on media usage. Knowing the postcode of a respondent, the market researcher can determine the geodemographic category. ACORN has 5 categories and 17 related groups. The categories are O

Wealthy Achievers, Urban Prosperity, Comfortably Off, Moderate Means a

and Hard Pressed. Among the categories in Urban Prosperity category a'

there are groups known as Prosperous Professionals, Educated Urbanites O

and Aspiring Singles. The owner of the ACORN system is CACI and the 3

hyperlink is: http://www.caci.co.uk.

Geodemographic data have been used by marketers for target marketing, media planning, setting sales targets by area, forecasting, market testing and selecting new locations for outlets. Among fashion firms, the heavy users are the mail order firms, although retailers such as House of Fraser are involved. Geodemographics presents a promising future for marketing, especially when demographic data are interlaced with psychographic data. However, a number of major criticisms can made of geodemographics. First, it relies on census material that, at best, will be at least one-year-old when it is first used and up to 11 years old before the next census material is readily available. The owners of these systems claim they are able to update their databases to take account of changes in the housing mix and local economies. The systems are in competition and currently are much more expensive than data from secondary sources. Geodemographics is not equally predictive of buying behaviour across all product categories. A geodemographic category is a composite of a number of variables such as class, age, ethnic origin and housing amenities, and critics assert that it is either social class subdivision by another name or a statistical artefact looking for a theory.

An interesting recent development is the combination of geodemographics with lifestyles, particularly those focused on fashion segments. One commercial system developed by Experian and TNS has categorized every adult in the UK into 1 of 20 female and 15 male categories called the Mosiac Fashion Segments. The categories are based on attitudes and shopping behaviour in relation to fashion and these are linked to the census and location data. An example of a female is 'Annabel' a type 12 female described as 'best-dressed fashionistas', aged 18-25, often living with parents, interested in designer labels, quality and style and shopping at River Island and Independent

Stores. A male example is 'Stephen' a type 6 described as 'a mainstream father' aged 35-46 who shops at Next and Debenhams, he doesn't rate brands and quality is not a high priority for him, but he does like to spend money on clothing for his children. The actual profiles available give much more detail than that above and readers can access the full dataset via the hyperlink: http://www.business-strate-gies.co.uk/.

Fashion marketers obviously need better tools for analysis and planning, and geodemographics combined with fashion lifestyles represents a significant advance, but it is not a panacea or even a clear successor to alternative methods of analysis. To ask some obvious questions, why should the type of dwelling have any bearing on the purchase of clothing? Does the buyer of a leather coat live in an inner city flat, an affluent suburb or a rural setting?

Continue reading here: Choice of a sampling method

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