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Types and Sources of External Data

This document discusses different types of external data sources that can be used for profiling individuals, including demographic and psychographic data. Demographic data provides basic information about individuals and households, such as address, age, income level. Psychographic data provides insights into attitudes, interests and purchasing behaviors. Both data types are typically collected through surveys and research. The document then provides more details on how demographic data systems like ACORN segment populations into groups based on census data and examples of strengths and weaknesses of using psychographic data for profiling and targeting individuals.

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Jerome Reyes
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29 views

Types and Sources of External Data

This document discusses different types of external data sources that can be used for profiling individuals, including demographic and psychographic data. Demographic data provides basic information about individuals and households, such as address, age, income level. Psychographic data provides insights into attitudes, interests and purchasing behaviors. Both data types are typically collected through surveys and research. The document then provides more details on how demographic data systems like ACORN segment populations into groups based on census data and examples of strengths and weaknesses of using psychographic data for profiling and targeting individuals.

Uploaded by

Jerome Reyes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TYPES AND SOURCES

OF EXTERNAL DATA

In profiling you will be needing data sources or


the database of profiled individuals.

Plus, this database should always be updated,


because you don’t want to send mailings to
person that doesn’t exist, already not
interested etc., that’s why sources company
that conduct surveys and research are
important.
There are two broad types of External
Prospect Data
 Demographic data is basic
information about a property
and its occupants .
 Psychographic or lifestyle data
is mainly about attitudes, likes
and needs, and purchasing
behaviour of individuals.
Demographic Data

 Examples of demographic data include Acorn, MOSAIC and


Superprofiles. Its main uses are to:

 Refine lists (for example a list could be compared to the


electoral roll to check that a name is still current at that address)

 Select the most likely segments from external lists – this could
be done by comparing property

 Gain a better understanding of a market place – knowing the


household composition and property type of your best
customers gives you a clearer view of your prospects
How Demographic data works
Demographic systems such as ACORN and MOSAIC
are based on the same starting information – the
National Census that takes place every 10 years.

Census information is gathered in blocks of


households called enumeration districts (EDs). An
ED contains approximately 150 households and
the data about it relate to the block not to any
individual property. Every household in an ED can
be identified by postcode although the process is
not exact, especially in densely populated areas.
How Demographic data works
 Now this the data are divided in groups. Commonly according to
financial status and ownership, but may also vary according to
family size, family members’ ages, types of living, civil status etc.
 For example in Acorn, data are divided like this:

(A has the wealthiest type of living and F has the least)

 • A – Thriving
 Types……….
 Sub types……..
 • B – Expanding
 • C – Rising
 • D – Settling
 • E – Aspiring
 • F – Striving.
ACORN Grouping Summary UK
Acorn Group Description Population %
1. Affluent Achievers    
  1.A - Lavish Lifestyles 820,947 1.3
  1.B - Executive Wealth 7,788,972 12.1
  1.C - Mature Money 5,663,939 8.8
2. Rising Prosperity    
  2.D - City Sophisticates 2,024,721 3.2
  2.E - Career Climbers 3,579,716 5.6
3. Comfortable Communities    
  3.F - Countryside Communities 4,160,615 6.5
  3.G - Successful Suburbs 3,844,002 6.0
  3.H - Steady Neighbourhoods 5,376,958 8.4
  3.I - Comfortable Seniors 1,645,668 2.6
  3.J - Starting Out 2,569,813 4.0
4. Financially Stretched    
  4.K - Student Life 1,550,112 2.4
  4.L - Modest Means 5,078,729 7.9
  4.M - Striving Families 5,564,601 8.7
  4.N - Poorer Pensioners 3,128,512 4.9
5. Urban Adversity    
  5.O - Young Hardship 3,222,867 5.0
 Through that details the company will be able to point out
the target market because they know the type of living of
the households that are in data.

 You are finding a market for school supplies product then


you will end up in class no.4 Financially Streched, and
subgroup Student life in ACORN group division.

 Now if we do not use The data of ACORN, since the total


percentage of the students are only 2.4 percent, the risk of
failure is very high because if we cluelessly send to anyone
in the UK there is almost 90+ percent that the mail you sent
will go to a non-student individuals/ household
Psychographic Data
 Examples of psychographic systems are the National Shoppers Survey,
Prizm, Behaviour Bank, the Lifestyle Selector, Lifestyle Focus and Facts
of Living Survey. The main uses of these types of data are as follows.

 Data enhancement – you can send your own list to a lifestyle bureau
and it will add information to those records that they can match with
records on their own databases. In practice, this is not always a very
high percentage

 Profiling – another interesting option is to have your own best customers


profiled by the lifestyle company. It will then offer you additional names and
addresses of people on its databases who match your customer profile.
Weaknesses of Psychographic Data
 One of the weaknesses of lifestyle data is that
it is self-selecting. Only a certain proportion
of people are willing to spend time filling in a
highly detailed questionnaire about their
living and shopping habits.
Weaknesses of Psychographic Data
 A greater weakness has been that only a proportion of
UK individuals for example is represented on these
databases. Claritas now claims to have completed
lifestyle questionnaires on 75% of UK households, but
this probably still represents less than 50% of the adult
population. This is why many marketers have been
disappointed with the level of individual matches
found.
 This is because a household for example contains

more than one individual so there is a match on level


of address and not in level of individual.
 A data is usable if it has 300 matches but it is

recommended to have more names and profile to have


at least 1000 matches.

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