The segmentation, by lifestyle, of consumers within the population is an
important contribution to consumer behavior research. Lifestyle-based (psycho
graphic)
segments in North America and Australia have been empirically identi
fied
by various commercial research organizations that regularly conduct national
surveys of consumers in the three countries. In Australia, the Roy Morgan
Research Centre (1997) applies a proprietary algorithm to a set of value measures,
attitudes, interests, and opinions, and demographic characteristics collected in
ongoing national surveys to partition the Australian population into 10 lifestyle
segments. The procedure used is similar to the VALS 2 segmentation scheme for
the United States population (Piirto, 1991), the Environics 3SC social values
monitor in Canada (Adams, 1997), and the Consumer Research Group (1996)
lifestyle segmentation scheme for New Zealand’s consumers. Psychographic
classification of respondents takes into consideration how people think; what
motivates them to act; how they perceive themselves, their own environment, and
their overall work environment; the self-image they want to project; what they
seek in life and their aspirations; what is likely to interest them; and what channels
of communication can effectively reach them.