Designing for an Audience

Audience Assessment How to identify, locate and reach

groups of people who need your product or service? The Art of Making Useful

Generalizations

“A market is a group of people who reference each other when making buying decisions.” Crossing the ChasmG. Moore.

“Owning” an Audience

What does a publisher own? A preferred relationship with an

audience.

Audience Analysis What do members of the audience have in

common? Are there different segments in the

audience? What kind of choices do they make and why

might they choose my product or service? Where can I find them? What motivates them to buy? to

participate? to join?

Reaching Your Audience How many ways exist for you to

connect to your target audience? What sources of information exist

that allow you to understand the audience or market?

What companies do they know or what products do they use?

What media reaches them?

In a Nutshell We want to understand how

communities are organized Demographically By Common Motivations By Shared Affinities or Choices

Traditional Analysis

Demographic ResearchIdentify Characteristics of Populations Geographic

newspapers (sfgate.com)city guides (bayinsider.com)

Age/Stage of Life SeniorNet, ThirdAge.comParentSoup

Student publications Gender / Race

Women.comNetNoir

Demographic Applications

Determining Buyers for a Product "Demographic analysis identifies those

population or household characteristics that most accurately differentiate potential customers from those not likely to buy. The second part of using demographics is finding those geographic areas with the highest concentrations of potential customers." (Miller, 1995)

Profiling

Profiling of Audiences for Advertisers What is the size of potential

audience? What growth trends are associated

with it? What economic factors make the

audience attractive?

Two Sides to Every Profile

Profiling Example

ThirdAge.com The per capita income of the 50+

segment is 26% higher than that of the general population.

Third Agers online have an annual average household income of $60,000 compared to $38,000 for younger users.

Third Agers earn an average of $10,000 more per year than other online users.

Sample Demographics Time Magazine Barron’s Wall Street Journal

Mendelsohn’s Affluent Survey Survey Questionnaire Mail survey based on 20,173 U.S. adults, 18+,

in households with incomes of $75,000+.

Online Demographic Sources Zip Code Segmentation CACI

Let's try 90210 US Census Bureau

Statistical Abstract of the US American Demographics Magazine U Michigan’s Documents Center -

Stats

Psychographics Understanding how values,

lifestyles and attitudes influence behavior of groups of people.

What Motivates People "Knowing where your customers live,

how old they are, or how much money they make is important, but it isn't enough. To anticipate their behavior relative to your client's products, you must look at what motivates your customers - their values, behaviors, and beliefs." (MarketMatch)

Psychographic Profile from ThirdAge.com 75% want to get more pleasure out of

life 49% feel the need to satisfy their

hunger for new experiences 56% describe themselves as "fun-loving" 44% want more excitement and

sensation in life 40% describe themselves as creative

and ambitious

Psychographic Applications Psychographic segmentation

Segment individuals into groups based on where they fall on a spectrum of possible attitudes.

Travelling Types Plog (1974) identified three

personality types in relation to travel, each of which is associated with certain travel patterns and kinds of destination.

Travelling Types 2 Psychocentrics focus on risk aversion and

thus either do not travel at all, or restrict their travel to safe, familiar destinations.

Allocentrics, in contrast, are confident and self-empowered, and tend to travel farther afield.

Most of the population, however, is midcentric. (Weaver et al, 1995) From "PSYCHOGRAPHICS AND TRAVEL

BEHAVIOR OF SASKATCHEWAN OLDER ADULTS"

Segment Characteristic Product

Psychocentric Reluctant to Travel

Travel Videos

Midcentric Family-related travel. Goes to same place

Group packages; condo or vacation home

Allocentric Frequent trips to unique locations

Adventure travel

VALS

SRI's Values and Lifestyles Program Questionnaire I am often interested in theories. I like outrageous people and things.

Mostly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Mostly agree

VALS Eight Consumer SegmentsActualizersFulfilleds Achievers Experiencers Believers Strivers Makers Strugglers

Ranked from High to Low Resources

Resources Resources refer to the full range of

psychological, physical, demographic, and material means and capacities people have to draw upon. It encompasses education, income, self-confidence, health, eagerness to buy things, intelligence, and energy level. It is a continuum from minimal to abundant. Resources generally increase from adolescence through middle age but decrease with extreme age, depression, financial reverse, and physical or psychological impairment. (SRI, Vals Segment Profiles)

Communities of Interest

Also called Affinity Groups. Hobbies Interests Functions (Work-related) Activities

Lifestyle choices Reflect lifestyle, attitudes and choices. Behavioral patterns Possible differentiation between

psychographics and affinities is that individual chooses to belong to the group.

What groups of people form around a set of choices? How important to them are those choices?

Examples homeowner, bicycle rider, student,

amateur photographer, horse rider, hiker, Mac user, guitar player, fitness fanatic; Civil War history buff

Sites visited frequently

Past Purchase Decisions History What things you already own are a

good indication of what you might buy. Computer equipment Books, CDs, etc. Home, etc.

What sites you visit is important.

Virtual Communities net.gain (Hagel, Armstrong, 1997)

describes how successful e-commerce is a result of organizing online communities.

Economic Potential of Online Communities

Leading Indicators (from net.gain)

1. Size of potential community

2. Relative value of being on-line

3. Value of being in a community

4. Likely intensity of commerce

5. Fractal depth (number of segments)

Seybold’s Eight Success Factors Target the right

customers. Own the customer’s

total experience. Streamline business

processes that impact the customer.

Provide a 360-degree view of the relationship.

Let customers help themselves.

Help customers do their jobs.

Deliver personalized service.

Foster community.

iVillage.com: Case study iVillage.com

Initial target audience was parents Now positioned as the Women's

Network A collection of sites positioned as

related channels for health, relationships, shopping, career, fitness & beauty. Sites include BetterHealth.com, ParentSoup.com.

Internet Demographics If your product or service depends

on the Internet, then your audience demographics are linked to the Internet's demographics.

Nielsen NetRatings Hot Off the Net

GVU Survey A self-selecting survey of 10,000 Internet

users, organized by Georgia Tech. "The general demographics of the user population moved closer

to the characteristics of the general population with a continued increase in the proportion of female users (38.7%), a decrease in the average income ($52,000 in the US), slightly lower level of educational attainment (50.1% college or more), and a diversification of occupations away from the domination of computer and education-related fields.

This new diversity among WWW users is brought about by a group of new users (less than a year on the Net) that is mostly female (51.7%) and more likely to be under 20 or over 50 years old than in their middle years. (Executive Summary, 1998)

GVU Graphs Graphs Gender, Education, Age, Household

IncomeMembership in Communities Hours of Web Use

Internet User Psychographics Wizards Pioneers Upstreamers Socialites Workers Surfers Mainstreamers Sociables Seekers Immigrants

iVALS

Questions About Internet Use What percentage of a traditional

print audience segment is online?

How is your segment growing online?

How active are they?

Crossing the Chasm

Geoffrey A. Moore, 1991 Technology Adoption Life Cycle

Defines five psychographic groups in terms of how they respond to new technology. Maps as a bell curve.

Technology Adopters

Innovators Aggressive buy-in; usually technologists themselves Early Adopters

Independent decision-makers; positively oriented to buy.

Early Majority More practical; wait to see if technology seems successful.

Late Majority Relunctant to adopt but somewhat forced to by market or other influences.

Laggards Highly Resistant to change

The Chasm Moore's point is that there is a chasm

between the early adopters and the early majority. It is difficult for high tech products that were favored by Innovators and Early Adopters to succeed with the Early Majority. Different strategies are required.

References Mainstream buyers require more and more

references to make a buy decision. References may include publishers, other customers, etc.

Target Customer Characterization Moore writes that "target markets"

characterized by numbers are "impersonal, abstract things." He talks about developing "informed intuition" about the customers. He suggests that a team characterize each of the different kinds of customers and create scenarios in which each customer uses the product.

This is a formal process that helps a group make decisions based on these characterizations. Moore, p. 97-9.

Personal Profile and Job Description Who is the person, what do they do

for a living, what kind of organization do they work for, what do they value?

Resources What resources does the person

have available to them that is relevant to the product. Consider technical resources, but others as well.

A Day in the Life (Before) Describe the person's life at the

moment when your product or service would make a difference.

Dilemna State the problem that the person

faces that motivates this person to buy the product.

A New Day in the Life (After) Describe how the product solves the

problem and reinforces what the customer believes or values.

Surveys We can ask users to tell us more

about themselves. We can benefit from direct

interaction with users. The more we know, the more

refined our product or service becomes.

Developing Surveys Market Research uses surveys and focus

groups to collect more detailed information about users.

Email is preferred method to solicit interest and ask people to fill out a form online.

Users online are more willing than most to participate in surveys, especially if they can learn from the results as well.

List of Online Tests

Assignment: Write an audience analysis. Develop a 20-question survey.