Individual Assignment
For my assignment I have selected five participants and five activities. I chose this number of participants and activities to make sure the participants were not overwhelmed with too many activities to remember over the forty-eight hour window. This would guarantee the most quality data possible. I also carefully chose a variety of people to participate. The participants chosen are from a wide range of demographic and psychographic profiles. I have both males and females ranging from 13-65 years old, lower middle class to upper class, as well as single, dating, and married individuals. Exhibit 3 gives both the demographic and psychographic information about each participant. Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2 are condensed journals of each participant divided up into five core activities. After collecting and analyzing the results, there were many trends and notable entries, which will be compared and contrasted in a person-by-person basis.
Person A spent his morning and afternoon working on “loose ends” around the house including working with an accounting firm and buying parts to fix his pool filter. The pool filter was bought from SeaWay pool store (company originally installed the pool) which is located 45 minutes away. I found this interesting because it supported the fact that the participant is a loyal customer to the original installer, even though there are closer pool supply stores. Person A also uses a loyalty card from Petro Canada to accumulate points for discounts (another act of loyal consumption). As a computer consultant, the participant is also loyal to the Dell brand of computer, which used to have a bigger share of the market before Apple took over. The fact that Person A owns a pool, ate at The Keg, and drives a nice car, supports the Upper Middle Class social position. I also found it interesting that Person A did his own oil change rather than using an oil change service from a dealership or service providers such as Jiffy Lube or Mr Lube. People of his generation tend to be more mechanically inclined and can perform these types of “do-it-yourself” services.
As a student-athlete, Person B exhibited an on-the-go lifestyle purchasing more food rather than making it himself. He also exhibited a very trendy lifestyle purchasing and using products from Apple, NetFlix, Lulu Lemon, and Chegg. Visiting a pub such as Durty Nelly’s and purchasing Coors Light showed signs of being a typical 24 year old student-athlete. This is a demographic that Durty Nelly’s and Coors light would directly be marketing too. Purchasing gas on a loyalty card from Petro Canada suggest Person B is influenced and possibly related to Person A. This is an example of one generation passing on consumption characteristics to another generation. Eating out, going to bars, and driving a pick up truck in South End Halifax supports the Upper Middle Class social position.
Person C exhibited many characteristics of a “hipster”, or a person who strives to be original but is also up-to-date with emerging trends. She used a bike as a mode of transportation instead of driving even though she’s from an Upper Class family. She visited Molly Bloom’s, which is considered a very hipster bar, and purchased Guinness Beer. I found this interesting because I don’t believe this is the target market for Guinness. She also did her grocery shopping at an organic grocer, which is an emerging trend for her generation. She ate out at a Sushi bar for dinner, plays the most expensive brass instrument (French horn), and uses Bell FibreOp cable and internet (even though she’s a student), which all support an Upper Class social position.
Person D played Xbox 360 a lot, which is very typical for his age. This suggests a target market for gaming systems. He had dinner at his grandparent’s house, purchased ice cream from a local convenient store, and played a board game with his family, which suggests a small town life. Stores, as well as