TECHNOGRAPHICS AND BEYOND
Pawan Musale
11/17/2011
BA635 – Current Marketing Issues Seminar
Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
FLASHBACK - SEGMENTING VCR OWNERS
Journal of Advertising Research –April/May 1988
 W James Potter
 Edward Forrest
 Barry Sapolsky
 William Ware
Purpose of the study:
To demonstrate that the VCR has reached a level of penetration
where users should no longer be regarded as a single,
homogeneous group. Rather, there is a variety of different types
of people who own VCRs, and these individuals have very
different motives for acquiring their machines and very different
patterns of usage.
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
FLASHBACK - SEGMENTING VCR OWNERS
Motives for acquiring a VCR:
 Source Shifting – to bypass telecast material
 Time Shifting – to record a telecast program for playback at
another time
 Zipping and Zapping – Fast forward past commercials during
playback and deleting ads during recording
Consumer Segmentation: Demographics





Time Shifter
Source Shifter
Videophile
Low User
Regular User
74
50
61
58
128
% Male
% Married
50.0
42.0
39.3
50.0
53.9
81.3
72.0
78.7
77.6
78.7
Psychographics
Planner
Seeks challenges
Ambitious
Tries new things
None
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
FLASHBACK - SEGMENTING VCR OWNERS
Conclusion:
 Demographic segmentation is not useful
 Segmentation should be based on amalgam of
variables which might be best referred to as
Technographics
 Technographics
focuses on motivations, usage
patterns and attitudes about a technology
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
TECHNOGRAPHICS
Methodology for surveying consumers based
on their technology behaviors
 Allows to compare any two groups of people –
Gen Y vs Gen X or Ford owners vs GM owners


The concept and technique was first
introduced in 1985 by Dr. Edward Forrest in a
study of VCR users.
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
FORRESTER RESEARCH, INC.


The concept of Technographics has been adopted
by Forrester Research, Inc.
Forrester Research, Inc. is an independent
research firm that analyzes the future of
technology change and its impact on businesses,
consumers, and society. The Company's research
products include internet commerce, corporate
technology, and Technographics data and
analysis.
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
TECHNOGRAPHICS

Helps marketing and strategy professionals to
build a holistic understanding of consumers
and markets by providing with actionable and
customizable data
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
TECHNOGRAPHICS

Helps to
 Understand
new and changing markets
 Target the right customers and create personas
 Identify the right product features
 Plan effective marketing campaigns
 Analyze customers, partners, and competitors
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
SOCIAL TECHNOGRAPHICS

Grouping consumers by how they participate
24%
Visit social networking sites
57%
29%
Watch user-generated video
25%
Read blogs
Publish or update a blog
11%
Publish Web pages
11%
36%
28%
26%
18%
Contribute to online forums
25%
25%
23%
Read customer ratings/reviews
8%
Upload video you created
22%
Post ratings/reviews
11%
Listen to podcasts
11%
8%
Use RSS feeds
Write and post articles, stories, etc.
45%
14%
Comment on someone else’s blog
Contribute to/edit articles in a wiki
47%
6%
9%
19%
18%
14%
Adults 18+
Youth 12-18
7%
8%
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
Creators
Critics
Collectors
Joiners
Spectators
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
Creators
2010
Conversationalists
Critics
Collectors
Joiners
Spectators
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
Creators
CREATORS
Conversationalists
Critics
I blog because I have
something important to
share.
Collectors
Joiners
• Publish a blog.
• Publish your own Web pages.
• Upload a video you’ve created.
• Upload audio or music you’ve created.
• Post articles or stories you’ve written.
Spectators
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
Creators
CREATORS
Conversationalists
Critics
Collectors
Joiners
Spectators
Creators engage in different activities, yet few do all of them
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
Creators
CONVERSATIONALISTS
Conversationalists
I update my Facebook
status weekly
Critics
Collectors
• Update status on a social networking site
•Post updates on Twitter
Joiners
Spectators
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
Creators
CRITICS
Conversationalists
Critics
I either love something or
I hate it — there’s no gray
area.
Collectors
Joiners
• Post ratings or reviews.
• Comment on someone else’s blog.
• Contribute to online forums.
• Contribute to or edit articles in a wiki.
Spectators
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
Creators
CRITICS
Conversationalists
Critics
Collectors
Joiners
Most Critics provide ratings and reviews on sites like Amazon
Spectators
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
Creators
COLLECTORS
Conversationalists
Critics
I’m a technology and
organization nut —
everything has a place,
and everything is in its
place.
Collectors
Joiners
Spectators
• Use RSS feeds.
• Add “tags” to Web pages or photos.
• “Vote” for Web sites online.
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
Creators
COLLECTORS
Conversationalists
Critics
Collectors
Joiners
Collectors are more likely to tag Web pages on sites like del.icio.us
Spectators
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
Creators
JOINERS
Conversationalists
My friends are the most
important part of my life.
Critics
Collectors
Joiners
• Maintain a profile on a social networking
site.
• Visit social networking sites.
Spectators
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
Creators
JOINERS
Conversationalists
Critics
Collectors
Joiners
Joiners do a variety of different activities
Spectators
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
Creators
Conversationalists
Critics
11/17/2011
SPECTATORS
All of this new content is a great
way to indulge my passion in
golf.
Collectors
Joiners
• Read blogs.
• Watch video from other users.
• Listen to podcasts.
• Read online forums.
• Read customer ratings and reviews.
Spectators
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
Creators
11/17/2011
SPECTATORS
Conversationalists
Critics
Collectors
Joiners
Most Spectators read blogs and watch videos
Spectators
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
Creators
11/17/2011
INACTIVES
Conversationalists
My real life is already too full
to pursue an online life.
Critics
Collectors
Joiners
• Don’t use any social technologies
• 64% have broadband
• 51% are technology optimists
Spectators
Inactives
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
SOCIAL TECHNOGRAPHICS

Social Technographics Profile Tool
 http://www.forrester.com/empowered/tool_consu
mer.html

Social Technographics Profile - Lego
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
SOCIAL TECHNOGRAPHICS

Social Technographics Profile of Alpha Moms
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
SOCIAL TECHNOGRAPHICS

1.
Recommendations
Understand Social Technographics profile of
your audience
Does your site currently attract Critics who are willing to
provide reviews of your products, like Amazon.com does?
Or are your users natural Creators, which Apple has in
abundance? A best practice is to analyze your Social
Technographics profile before starting out.
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
SOCIAL TECHNOGRAPHICS

2.
Recommendations
Map out how users will participate – both
today and in the future
Envision how you want to interact with your customers in
the short term but also how you hope they will engage
with you and with each other in a few years. You will want
to have a plan of how to keep your audience engaged as it
moves up the Social Technographics ladder — today’s
Spectators will soon be Critics, and you better be prepared
with features for them to participate in that way.
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Technographics and Beyond
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SOCIAL TECHNOGRAPHICS

3.
Recommendations
Create multiple participation points
Don’t be stingy with opportunities — you never know
how users will want to interact and engage.
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
SOCIAL TECHNOGRAPHICS

4.
Recommendations
Find lightweight ways for first-time Creators
to contribute
It’s pretty scary for a new Creator to push the publish
button for the first time, so make it easy and fun for them.
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
SOCIAL TECHNOGRAPHICS

5.
Recommendations
Make it easy for Spectators to find usergenerated content
Where does your Social Computing content live on your
site — is it buried in a separate section, or is that content
integrated into site search?
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Technographics and Beyond
11/17/2011
SOCIAL TECHNOGRAPHICS

6.
Recommendations
Prepare your organization for participation –
and criticism
Encouraging participation will be a messy, inexact
process — and at times painful, as mistakes are made.
Expect negative comments and accept them, just as Dell
does. Dell turns a negative into a positive by routing
customer service issues submitted in the comments of its
blog to a special group inside customer service that
expedites handling these requests.
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Technographics and Beyond
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SOCIAL TECHNOGRAPHICS

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
References
Segmenting VCR Owners – Journal of Advertising Research, W. James Potter, Edward Forrest,
Barry S. Sapolsky, William Ware
Social Technographics – Charlene Li, Forrester Research, Inc.
Global Consumer Technographics, Forrester Research, Inc.
Global Technographics® Segmentation Predicts Which Consumers Will Use Technology Jacqueline Rousseau-Anderson, Forrester Research, Inc.
Introducing The New Social Technographics, - Josh Bernoff, Forrester Research, Inc.
Groundswell - Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff, Forrester Research, Inc.
‘Technographics’ may be the new research buzzword - Bill Eaton, Marketing News
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Technographics and Beyond
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SOCIAL TECHNOGRAPHICS
34