Asking Questions - The Definitive Guide To Questionnaire Design ...

ASKING PSYCHOGRAPHIC QUESTIONS 245
7. It is important to include measures of behavior frequency
(such as product usage) in the study of psychographics.
8. Pretest psychographic scales and use factor and cluster analysis
to eliminate redundant or nondifferentiating questions.
What Are Some Examples of
Psychographic Segments?
Psychographic questions are typically used to segment people by the
way they think or behave. Segmenting people on this basis enables
researchers to more clearly examine what these different segments
prefer (such as brand preference) and what they do. For example,
psychographic questions allow comparisons between healthy and
unhealthy behaviors. A second reason to ask psychographic questions
is to try to develop more general or generic segments that
might be useful in examining trends and larger systemic patterns of
behavior.
Let us first consider using psychographics to examine segmentrelated
differences in preference or behavior, a practice that is becoming
increasingly common. Using psychographic questions
involves using one or two hypothesized characteristics (or personality
traits) to explain differences in choice or behavior. For instance,
one study hypothesized that a trait called “venturesome” was
related to the probability that “venturesome” people would try new
and different products. In turn, researchers found that people with
this trait were more likely to choose a new and different flavor of
toothpaste (Ultra Brite instead of Colgate) when compared to less
adventuresome people.
Using Psychographic Questions to Help Predict Behavior
Using psychographics to predict behavior patterns is most widespread
in the area of marketing research. Psychographics have been
used to explain preferences that are based more on personality than