VALS Psychographic Segmentation Survey

The Strategic Business Institute offers consulting services to organizations in order to improve their marketing strategies. One such tool is the VALS Psychographic Segmentation Survey. The survey provides important data on consumers allowing organizations to improve their strategies in new product development, product positioning, and marketing communications by better understanding consumer values, attitudes and lifestyles.

Go to Strategic Business Institute to take the US VALS Survey. This site can be finicky, so it may take more than one try. Take the survey and record your primary and secondary VALS types. Read the descriptions provide on the web site under VALS types.

Answer each of the following questions by first typing the question, in bold, and then answering the question. Please double space between questions.

• What are your VALS types (1st and 2nd)?
• Do you think your VALS profiles accurately identify factors that motivate your buying behavior? What characteristics do you have that are similar? Are there areas where the profile really does not fit you?
• Explain how marketers could use this information to improve the likelihood that you, personally, would buy their product.
• Give three specific real-world examples of what marketers did to reach you. Identify the marketer’s technique and the product (including brand name) that you ended up buying as a result.