Audience segmentation

Overview

Determine target audience Determine what you need to know Audience research Interpreting results

Determining the target audience

Primary audience: Clients Secondary audience:

People who influence your primary audience (peers; social referents) Policymakers Media professionals Supervisors, boards of directors Your employees

Tertiary audience:

What is a target audience?

People whose behavior you wish to affect. Potential customers or consumers considering whether to adopt the product you are promoting. People most at risk for the problem you are addressing.

Potential segmentation bases

A priori

Determined in advance (sex, race, age, residential status) Objective (can be observed/measured)

General or behavioral General or behavioral

Inferred (assessed thru questionnaire)

Self-selection bases

Segments define themselves thru response to campaign Rarely indicates why response occurred

Bases to segment by:

Objective general data often available thru 2ndary data

Inferred general:

Age Income Sex Residence Race Family size

Personality Lifestyle Risk preferences Media preferences Self-confidence

Inferred behavioral:

Obj. Behavioral

Access to health care Past behaviors Distance to sources Behavior of peer group/village/family Hours watching different media

Self-efficacy Perceived benefits/costs Stage of behavior change Social norms Perceived risk Perceived severity

Audiences not homogenous

Even within an audience subgroup, there may be many important differences with respect to the behavior you are promoting.

E.g., an STD prevention program wont use the same appeals for boys and girls, or older and younger teens.

Segmenting by demographics (age, sex, education, etc.) may NOT be as important as segmenting by risk-level or personality.

E.g., those who know theyre at risk may react differently to those who feel invulnerable.

Theory & Method in Segmentation

What criteria are properly used to segment an audience or market?

Smorgasboard of techniques and strategies Little direction for preferred strategy

Whats needed: Identify subgroups that have common similar determinants of behavior in question
Slater, M.D. (1996). Theory and Method in Health Audience Segmentation. J of Health Comm, vol. 1: 267-283.

Behavior Determinants

1) Identify from research the known determinants of KAP with respect to goal behavior 2) Identify audience segments on basis of distinctive patterns of determinants HOWEVERHow do you identify these patterns?

Segmentation Methods

VALS Values and Lifestyles dataset for commercial use

more art than science?

SES Crude segmentation by demographics (education, race, income, gender, geography)

Easy to measure, but not that informative Many sub-differences w/in demographic groups overlooked

Segmentation Methods (contd)

Psychosocial variables Self-efficacy; peer support; etc.

Harder to measure More informative

Can start w/ demographic sub-groups and then further subdivide by psychosocial

ButAssumes there are a few key variables Assumes one has correctly identified them May miss subtle distinctions w/in segments

Social Science & Typology

Segmentation process usually stops there

Need for parsimonythe fewest possible variables to explain audience variance Statistical models are cumbersome when overloaded with too many variables To best guide channel selection & intervention design, segments should be predictive of distinctive patterns of media use

Descriptive vs. predictive models

Define Target Audience, Focus Message & Choose Media

Start with audience Define who they are:

sociodemographic variables personal identity - what they care about risk level - stage of behavior change

Gear message to fit Choose appropriate media

Media diets vary by race & gender

Not all teenagers tune into the same kind of media

Girls prefer softer music and soap operas Boys prefer action flicks and harder, louder music African-Americans and children from singleparent households watch more TV
Steele JR, Brown JD. Adolescent room culture: Studying media in the context of everyday life. J Adolesc Hth 1995; 24(5).

Media diet varies by personal identity, too

Even within race & class categories, teenagers media use vary dramatically

Teens define themselves by their identities Girls sense of selves may be particularly transitory & vulnerable to media influence

Pipher M. Reviving Ophelia. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994. Thompson S. Going All the Way. New York: Hill and Wang, 1995.

Identity associated with behavior

Speaking to teen identities may be key to influencing behavior

Identity -- a persons self-perception & tastes in fashion, music & friends -- may determine sexual risk practice Related to subjective beliefs about whats important

Identity attributes may be more amenable to change than basic sociodemographic variables

Prochaska J, Redding C, Harlow L, et al. The transtheoretical model of change and HIV prevention: A review. Hth Ed Qaurt 1994; 21(4):471-86.

Adolescent girls can be segmented by identities

Categories of girls relationship behavior

(Thompson, 1995)

How girls use sexual media (Steele & Brown,

1995)

Shy girls Romantic idealists Hell-raisers Fast-track girls Having the baby

Disinterested Intrigued/Conformers Resisters ? ?

Segmenting by risk level: Stages of Change Model

Behavior change is not a one-step process Different messages are needed for each stage

Precontemplation Contemplation Ready for action Action Maintenance

Stages of Behavior Change: Operationalization

s

Pre-contemplation:
s

No intention to use condoms Intends to use condoms in next 6 months Intends to use condoms from now on Every time condom use for less than 6 months Condoms used every time for at least 6 months
Prochaska J, et al. The transtheoretical model of change and HIV prevention: A review. Hth Ed Qaurt 1994; 21(4):471-86. Schnell DJ, et al. Measuring the adoption of consistent use of condoms using the stages of change model. Public Health Reports 1996;111(suppl 1):59-68.

Contemplation:
s

Ready-for-action:
s

Action:
s

Maintenance:
s

Segmenting by risk level: Results

Campaigns that target audience by risk level are more effective than nontargeted campaigns

-- in smoking cessation, exercise adoption, dietary fat reduction & mammography screening

Results of a smoking campaign

People who progress from one stage to next early in campaign are more likely to ultimately change behavior

3% pre-contemplators quit smoking 7% pre-contemplators who moved to contemplation in 1st month quit smoking 20% contemplators took action 41% contemplators who moved to ready-for-action in 1st month took action

Prochaska JO, et al. In search of how people change. American Psychologist 1992;47(9):1102-14.

Segmenting by risk level: Condom campaign

CDCs Role Model Stories Campaign, San Francisco, 1992-94

to change womens HIV risk behavior & community norms, using narrative pamphlets Welfare mothers ages 17-54

Target audience:

Different stories developed for each risk category

Contemplation:

Kizzy says shell seriously try to use condoms Mayeisha decides to use condoms with her next man Champagne uses condoms, but not every time

Ready-for Action:

Action:

Kinght K, et al. This is my story: A descriptive analysis of a peer education HIV/STD risk reduction program. Presented at American Public Health Association, New York City, November, 1996.

Segmenting by demographics: Project ACTION

Social marketing campaign to promote teenage condom use in Portland, Oregon by Population Services International 1992-94 Community mobilization Condom vending machines Peer skill-building workshops Motivational media campaign Evaluation research

Project ACTION: Tailoring the message

Target audience:

At-risk teens ages 12-21 Caucasian boys; Caucasian girls; African-American boys & girls

Audience segments:

Different PSAs designed to match sexual scripts of each subgroup

PSA for girls: romantic flowers PSA for boys: pretty girls PSA for African-Americans: passionate glance

PSAs promote condoms in Portland, Oregon 1992-94

Teens who used condoms in last month increased from 32% to 40% Teens who used condoms with casual partners rose from 72% to 90% Teens who planned to discuss condoms with next partners rose from 53% to 80%
Blair J. PSI/Project ACTION: Improving Teen Risk Reduction. Washington: Population Services International, 1995.

Allocating resources: Indexing and weighting

Incidence, severity, defenselessness, etc. 1= average; > 1=worse Average scores + Multiply by population size for segment (IAP) Add IAPs together = total IAP Convert each segments score to a % of total IAP

See example

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