Life-Stage Segmentation:
Using Life Stage Segmentation to Drive Strategies: Report
Many newspapers over the past several years have launched new products targeted at 18-34-year-olds. But which 18-34-year-olds? The 24-year-old that recently completed a graduate program and is looking for his first job and first apartment? The 28-year-old mother of two looking for day-care options? The 30-year-old single investment banker looking for his next exotic vacation?
Understanding consumers’ life stage, beyond just their age groups, is critical to developing products and strategies that best serve their particular needs. The NAA/ASNE Audience Development Initiative has undertaken a project, in partnership with Kannon Consulting, to understand how changes in consumers’ behavior and attitudes provide opportunities for newspaper organizations to grow their audience.
To conduct “life-stage” analysis (or “segmentation”), NAA licensed data for 1995, 2000 and 2005 from a multi-year tracking study conducted by DDB¹ that probes nuanced details of consumer behavior. The DDB study includes a thorough, personal media-usage journal which provides unique data about when and why consumers use different media throughout the day.