Andrej Ranisavljevic
A00815733
Set: B
Essentials of
Marketing
1102
Mini Project #1
Andrej
Andrej Ranisavljevic
A00815733
Set: B
Essentials of Marketing 1102 – Mini Project #1
Environmental Conciseness
According to the sustainability passion index I would fall under the Casual Spectator
category. To be considered a Casual Spectator the SHIFT report says that you focus more of
your time and interest on friends, family and the community rather than being passionate or
helping to contribute to a rising issues in the world. Casual Spectators also are expected to
regularly read blogs and be happy with a well-balanced lifestyle. In my case I can agree with
about half of what the SHIFT report deliberates to be a Casual Spectator. I do feel satisfied with
a balance lifestyle and majority of my time is focused on friends and family yet I rarely read any
sort of blog. I do find myself environmentally aware and do my best to help stop the impact of
global warming by doing simple things such as recycling and cutting back meat consumption
which is a leading factor to greenhouse gases.
In the eyes of a marketing expert does it matter if I’m the one that’s actually reading
the blogs or if someone I talk to is just telling me what certain blogs are saying? Yes, the
marketer does care who is directly consuming the information in the blog and how the
information is circulating to others. In most cases it’s true that people spend the majority of
their time with people who have common likes and dislikes. Therefore in my group of friends
the bulk of us would fit under the casual spectator category.
Marketers need to understand how certain groups of people spend their money. What
are casual spectators spending their money on? Where are they spending their money? Why
are they spending their money on certain products? According to the SHIFT report 28% of 5000
North Americans live a similar lifestyle. Marketers can use this to their advantage. From this
report they see this group of people get a lot of their information from the internet and blogs.
It also tells us that engagement in the community is key to casual spectators.
Can marketers use this information to their advantage? Of course they can. As people
are starting to become more sustainable, some quicker than others, they spend their money
differently. Maybe they start to buy more eco-friendly products because they are following a
new trend which is being blogged about widely across North America. Marketers can use the
information from the report to tell brands which communication method will get across to
what group of people and who the information will be passed along to.
Andrej Ranisavljevic
A00815733
Set: B
Essentials of Marketing 1102- Mini Project #1
Social Values and Consumer Values
My survey results conclude that I fit under both the Innovator and Experiencer social
value segments. I was most likely placed under the Innovators section because I do find myself
to be looking to have strong leadership skills (I even tend to lead my Organizational
Behaviour/Marketing group). I am an active consumer and do spend time on how I present
myself and my overall image to people. I tend to seek challenges and excitement which is why I
was also placed in the experiencer segment. Majority of my wages are spent on entertainment,
fashion and socializing along with most people who fall under the experiencer category. I am
easily excited about new opportunities. I do fall under the stereotypical up to date male in my
age grouping.
Is this information useful to marketers? Yes, the eight VALS social value types do a
great job of demonstrating what demographic of people spend their money on what. For
example if someone is an Experiencer they enjoy being entertained or doing risky activities but
they also consume products such a Red Bull. What can a marketer do with this information?
Well they can advise thrill seeking companies to advertise in conjunction with Red Bull or
similar energy drink products.
Each of the eight VALS social types place people into certain categories giving
companies an idea of who will be buying their products. It also gives an idea of what other
products will be consumed in the same social group. Companies are always looking to expand
using the VALS groups for an indication; they can get a sense of what products they could
create to market at other social groupings.