Page 295 - Communication Theory and Research

McQuail(EJC)-3281-20.qxd 8/16/2005 12:02 PM Page 280

280 Communication Theory & Research
do, one cannot intelligently decide how to attract any particular market segment
unless one knows why the distinctions exist. In order to attract and motivate a
particular group of consumers through communication campaigns, one must
gain insight into their psychological profile, i.e. their lifestyle.
Our research results suggest that it is possible to develop robust and balanced
general lifestyle typologies (using either values, life visions or aesthetic style
preferences alone, or in combination) that can be used by communication and
marketing managers for strategic segmentation decisions across very different
markets. These lifestyle typologies often outperform classic demographic and
socioeconomic segmentation variables in terms of product benefit or attribute
evaluation. A global typology, combining sections on values, life visions, aesthetic
style preferences and media preferences, not only provides the richest data (for
communication strategists, creatives and media planners), but also yields the best
discriminative performance compared to other lifestyle segmentation methods.

Discussion

However, a general problem with lifestyle typologies has to do with questions of
reliability and validity (for an extensive discussion, see Gunter and Furnham,
1992: 91–7). The main points of criticism are:

• The methods used are purely inductive and not guided by theory. Often, the items
used in lifestyle questionnaires are based on common sense reasoning and
implicit experience in carrying out market research. However, inasmuch as
we have been basing ourselves on the value concept, it must be said that this
is a concept very well grounded in both general social theory (mainly due to
Rokeach) and in the theory of consumer behaviour (mainly due to the work
of Reynolds, Gutman and Olson). Moreover, for both the value concept and
the newer concepts of life visions and aesthetic preferences our inventories
are based on considerable exploratory research.
• The explanatory value of lifestyle types or dimensions concerning consumer behav-
iour is low and not well documented. When it has been attempted to relate pur-
chase data and lifestyle data in such a way that the amount of variance in the
former explained by the latter can be ascertained, the amount of variance
explained has often been very modest, sometimes even below the variance
explained by demographic variables alone (Wells and Tigert, 1971). As Wells
(1975) put it in a review article: ‘Stated as correlation coefficients these rela-
tionships appear shockingly small – frequently in the .1 or .2 range, seldom
higher than .3 or .4.’ Notice that our research instrument clearly yields better
results, with average (!) eta-values at the .35 level.

Our option for dimensions (values, life visions, aesthetic style and media prefer-
ences) that are more reflective of lasting personal characteristics and behaviours,
compared to the more variable and superficial AIO items, certainly improves
the reliability of the research instrument. However, much more research needs to
be done.