Cultural Creatives Lifestyle
and LOHAS Markets
by Paul H. Ray
Based on 15 years of research
– 150,000 (cum.) people surveyed
– 500 focus groups
– 60 in-depth, 4-8 hour interviews
on life histories
The best market for LOHAS is
THE CULTURAL CREATIVES
50 million in United States
= 26% of U.S. Adults
80-90 million in European Union
= 30-35% of E.U. Adults
Total Disposable Income (After Taxes)
= $1.2 Trillion
United States Population, Year 2000
THE CULTURAL CREATIVES
Driving customer force
of the LOHAS Industries*
*Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability
LOHAS Sales2000 = $227 Billion
$2,000 per CC household
Market Potential = $4-6,000/hh
THE CULTURAL CREATIVES
LOHAS Industries in Year 2000:
1. Sustainable Economy
2. Healthy Lifestyles
3. Alternative Healthcare
4. Personal Development
5. Ecological Lifestyles
Total:
$76.5B
27.8B
30.7B
10.6B
81.2B
$226.8B
Source: Natural Business Communications
NMI’s* Key LOHAS Segments
Product Use + Attitudes
• LOHAS Users=32.3%=68 Million Adults
7%/year growth. Large concerns for family’s
health, sustainability of planet , future of
society, personal development
• “Nomadics” =39.2%=83 Million Adults
“Move from place to place” on product use and
above concerns. Within these, 39% moving
toward LOHAS, 15% away.
*Source: Natural Marketing Institute, 2002 Survey
NMI’s LOHAS: Values & Buying
• “I will usually buy from a company
whose values are like my own.”
• LOHAS segment=90% vs. US=62%
• Socially Responsible Investor = 82%
• Green Building Products = 73%
• Interested in Hybrid Car = 67%
• Energy Efficient Electronics = 66%
*Source: Natural Marketing Institute, 2002 Survey
ValueGraphics
• Values and Lifestyles Segments from
Cultural Differences, NOT Psychographics,
NOT Individual Differences
• Who has really changed their lifestyle
• Cuts across product benefit segmentations
• Subculture implies all psychological types:
smart/dumb, inward/outer, thinking/feeling,
good/bad, enlightened/regressive, etc.
• As distinctive as French Canadians in
Quebec
ValueGraphics
• A Subculture has different:
—Values = “My most important life priorities”
Deeper than opinions, slower to change
—Worldview = “How the world really works.
What’s real. What Life is all about”
—Lifestyle = “What to buy. How to live”
Reflects lifestyle differences across many
values-related product categories
The Culture Wars 50 Years Ago
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50% MODERNS
50%TRADITIONALS
Secular, materialist •
The big city
•
Hip, up to date
•
Style & efficiency •
Cary Grant
•
LaurenBacall
•
Conservative, pious
Small town, country
Square, out of date
Character, reliability
Jimmy Stewart
June Allyson
There are 3 Subcultures Today
• Traditionals
24.5%
• Moderns
49.4%
• Cultural Creatives 26.1%
Total: 100%
Source: 1999 Survey for US Government
President’s Council on Sustainable Development
What’s Important to Moderns
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Make or have a lot of money
Climb the ladder of success to your goals
Look good, be in style, dress for success
Be hi-tech, on top of trends, innovations
“When the going gets tough, the tough go
shopping!”
• Lots of choices, as consumer, voter, boss,
worker
• Economic and technological progress
• Reject Traditionals, Natives, ‘New Agers’
What’s Important to Traditionals
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Patriarchs should dominate families
Feminism is a swearword
Keep traditional men’s/women’s roles
Belong in family, church, community
Uphold conservative versions of their
own particular religious traditions
• Keep up customary, familiar lifeways
• Regulate sex: pornography, teen sex,
extramarital sex, and abortion
Cultural Creatives’ Values
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Ecology, beyond environmentalism
Planetary awareness & concerns
Social responsibility & social concerns
Authenticity: personal, business, politics
Relationships, & Helping others
Personal Growth, & Spirituality
Feminism, & “Women’s Issues”
Neither Left nor Right, but in Front!
Three Preferred Cognitive Styles
• Traditionals: Fend off a bad, complex, illunderstood world. Black-and-white, good-andevil, simple categories.
• Moderns: Tightly focused attention on what
succeeds. Ignore side effects. No distractions.
Linear analysis. “Inside the box” thinking.
• Cultural Creatives: Synthesize, take in from
a wide range of sources. See the whole system.
Can do Moderns’ analysis, but may not trust it.
And in addition… My inner experience is valid.
Demographics Almost Useless for This
Values Go Deeper
• Cultural Creatives slightly upscale:
— Avg. Income=$53,000 (US = $46,000)
— 30% College Grad (US = 24%)
• BUT wide range of income, education,
occupation (working class to wealthy)
• Close to national profiles on age, race,
ethnicity, religion, region (5% more on
each coast)
Demographics Almost Useless for This
Values Go Deeper
• BUT CCs = 60% women overall
• Core group (opinion leaders) are 67%
women, or 2:1 women:men
• Women lead the emerging cultural change
• Women’s views are becoming public for the
first time in recorded history
• The CC women’s big complaint:
“Where are all the good men?”
The Cultural Creatives Story
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It’s about floods of new information
world-wide over last 40 years:
Planetary environment/ecology
Health beyond catastrophic medicine
Organic food vs environmental-poisons
Spiritual traditions from everywhere
Nuclear, infotech, biotech, nanotech all go from promise to threats
The Cultural Creatives’ Story
• It’s about women’s values and
concerns going public for the first time
in recorded history
• It’s about the role of the new social
movements and consciousness
movements in educating the Western
world over the past 40 years
Cultural Creatives’ Lifestyles
• They dominate the markets for:
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–
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Natural and Organic Products / Foods
Alternative / Holistic Health Care
Eco-Tourism, Innovative Travel
Socially Responsible Investments = $2 Trillion
Education and Workshops
Arts and Culture
Personalization of Home
Psychotherapy and Counseling
Cultural Creatives’ Lifestyles
• Want to Buy, But Have Barriers:
– Ecologically Sustainable Products
– ‘Green’, Safe, Low to Mid-Price Car
– Solar/Green Home + Master-Plan
Community
– Good Education for Their Children
– Media That Respects Their Values
– Complementary Health Care & Insurance
– More Idealism/Spiritual Depth in the Arts
Cultural Creatives’ Lifestyles
• Media Habits:
– Watch Half as Much TV (Don’t waste $$)
– Read Twice as Many Books
– Listen to More Radio
– Read More General Market AND
More Lifestyle Targeted Magazines
– Just Now Catching Up on Internet Use
Will drill down on your website
– Very Critical of the News Media
Cultural Creatives’ Lifestyles
• Creators & Consumers in Arts
– Music, Literature, Magazines, Movies,
Videos, Arts & Crafts
– Attend workshops, art and crafts fairs,
readings, showings — as amateurs
– A huge portion of professional artists
& writers are Cultural Creatives
– The discerning, critical audience
Cultural Creatives’ Lifestyles
• Technology Moderates: Internet
– Embraced it only when people-friendly
– A lot of e-mail
– Surf a lot less
– Get specific information and get out
– Hate chat rooms
– Visit sites recommended by friends, IF
they fit their values
– Will drill deep, IF they like your website
Cultural Creatives’ Lifestyles
• Holistic Everything:
– Mind, Body, Spirit need to be unified
– Mostly NOT New Agers, who are the
beginners/duffers at personal growth
– Want help sorting out “fringey” stuff
– Buy books, magazines, tapes about it
– Original arts and crafts symbolize it
– See the planet as a living being, and
all of humanity as one people
Marketing to Cultural Creatives
1.
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Learn Their Language
Stories not bullet points
Lots of Evidence, few arguments
Personal experiences + evidence
Customer’s viewpoint,
not producer’s or expert’s
Spoken language among friends
Speak directly to their values
Connect to their larger concerns
Marketing to Cultural Creatives
2. Be seen as a Virtuous Company,
with Virtuous Products and Services
• Be Transparent
— Show who you are:
Your people, sources, practices,
relationships to customers
— What makes you good for health and
the environment?
— Increasing Trust Increases Sales
Marketing to Cultural Creatives
3. Do Relationship Marketing
• Keeping Current Customers Costs 1/4 of
What Getting New Ones Costs
• Transparency serves the relationship
• Adopt their good causes = affinity marketing
• Move toward Guerrilla Marketing, Word of
Mouth, Creating “Buzz”
• Women (CC) customers want relationships
more than sexy features
Advertising and Information
• DO LESS General Media Ads or PR
—Confusing variety of articles
—They don’t help the relationship
—Ads are seen as intrusive, unwanted
• DO MORE Lifestyle Targeted Media Ads/PR
— Your best customers read eagerly
— You can add to relationships there
— Ads are cheaper
Advertising and Information
• Educate with good information:
— Do anything for product experience
— Show lifestyle context of product use
— Easy, cheap information = online
— Give the ability to drill down easily
— Tell them your criteria of good quality
• Any format that feels like personal
recommendations from friends:
— What basis would their friends use
for a recommendation?
Advertising and Information
• Use a “No B.S.” Media Strategy:
— Simple Honesty/Full Disclosure
— Cut away advertising floss
— But also show many “virtue points”
• Show you are a “good citizen”:
—Show who and where it comes from
—Transparent production process
—Disposal process is full cycle
CCs Past Growth Rate =
1-2% per Year for 40 Years.
• IF develop collective identity...
• IF values & beliefs publicly visible
• THEN, many Moderns would join up,
and CC growth would accelerate:
• Cultural Creatives could be
half the U.S. in 10 years.
Paul H. Ray, Ph.D.
Consulting on Cultural Creatives
101 Bishop Ct.
Novato, CA 94945
415-897-2894
paulhray@aol.com
paul@culturalcreatives.org