Psychographics: A Critical Review : By Adarsh S (2012H149214P)

Demographic profile is probably the most familiar. Marketing researchers collect demographics as a matter of routine, and marketers feel comfortable using them. But demographics attributes alone are not enough. Most psychographic researchers have employed precoded, objective questionnaires that can be self-administered or administered by ordinary survey interviewers. Precoding makes the data amenable to complex multivariate statistical analysis; ease of administration encourages-or at least permits-use of large, representative samples. Both practices distinguish psychographic studies from studies in the qualitative motivation research tradition. A Product-Specific Psychographic Profile When a psychographic study is devoted to a single product category, it is not necessary to depend on item diversity to get useful relationships. Rather, the investigator can focus upon a limited set of relevant, product-related dimensions. Personality Traits as Descriptors In most psychographic studies, the term "predict" cannot be taken literally. Since the data were all collected at the same point in time, prediction" really means correlation. In all these cases a large set of descriptive items was reduced to a smaller number of more abstract scores, and this reduced set of independent variables was then linked to the dependent variable by means of some form of multiple regression A Product-Specified Segmentation When the investigation is devoted to one product, the investigator can focus upon product-related material. The discrimination produced by the product- specific approach is somewhat sharper than the discrimination produced by the more general segmentation. This outcome is common. When the segmentation is based upon the dimensions upon which brands differ, it is almost certain to discriminate more sharply among brands than when it is based upon more general considerations. Reliability of Individual Items and Scales When assessing reliability, it is important to distinguish between two major uses for psychographic measurements. One use is as a public opinion poll. The other use of psychographics is in relationships, either in cross-tabulations or in "predictions" of dependent variables Reliability of Dependent Variables The maximum possible correlation between two variables is fully as dependent upon the reliability of what is being predicted as it is upon the reliability of the predictor. In psychographic studies, where the dependent variable is normally some form of consumer behavior, this means that strong relationships cannot be obtained unless the consumer behavior itself is measured accurately, no matter how reliable the psychographic measurements may be. This limitation is compounded by the fact that some kinds of consumer behavior-such as choice of a specific brand on a given occasion or exposure to a particular television program-may be so unstable that accurate prediction is virtually impossible, quite apart from any random measurement errors. Validity Like other measurements, psychographic measurements can be reliable without being valid. UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Psychographic methods have contributed to more general knowledge of consumer behavior in at least three ways. Psychographic profiles have shed new light on some of the familiar and recurring topics in consumer research. Trend data now becoming available have shown how consumers are changing and how they are not. And general segmentations of the consumer population have created new typologies within which consumer behavior might be more efficiently described and better understood.