demand for new things - what is it and how do you measure it.
sri are trying to characterise the demand for innovation.
they are focusing on national populations - and then segmenting out the different types of innovation seekers.
existing approaches include
demographics
past purchase behaviour
etc
however demographics and behaviours can mask important differences.
sri seek to insert personality traits into the mix.
how do you systematically characterise populations so as to be able to predict likely response to innovation.
the tricky part is coming up with relevant personality traits to characterise appropriately.
SRI's approach is called VALS.
teh vals tool has two levels of segemtnation
- primary
- niche
they have identified three primary motivations groupings:
ideals - inner driven, internalised, principles, seek understanding
achievement - goal orientated, peer group driven
self-expression - action orientated, adventurous
on the other axis of segmentation is resource availability -
resource include
income but also things like education, self confidence etc.
the segmentations then fall into the following groupings -
thinkers
believers
survivors
strivers
achievers
experiencers
makers
this is very tool based discussion...
this is really about further defining the early adopters group or conceptual understanding of a group.
interesting use of group definition - they use the groups to help understand and motivate product designers (much like we use personnas).