In this blog, I will be discussing how personalities, lifestyles and self-concepts affect consumer behavior. I am writing about this because as a marketer, consumer behavior has a big impact on the industry. Knowing how peoples personalities, lifestyles and self-concepts influence consumers can make us better marketers.

VALS

These influences are connected to consumer behavior by a number of ways. One of which is something known as VALS. VALS stands for Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles. VALS is a psychographic consumer segmentation system that allows marketers to see which traits drive consumer behavior.

PRIZMS

Another way businesses determine how consumers behave is through PRIZMS. PRIZMS stands for Potential Rating Index for Zip Markets. Which means its data built around neighborhood data learned by the US Census. PRIZMS allows for businesses to look at there location and see the primary demographic for that area. For research, I looked up my own zip code and here were the results:

They even have different subcategories you can look through to gain an even better understanding at your business’s demographics:

Consumer behavior has a big influence on marketers and business success. Understanding consumers and their habits, lifestyles, personalities and behaviors can make a business successful. Learning why or what drives a consumer can let you have a better understanding of your business and as a marketer what would drive your customer to buy or engage in your business.