COMM 390: 'Boomtown Singles' and 'Family Thrifts' in 'Mayberry-ville'? Demographic typologies and Springfield

In "Ads, Fads & Consumer Culture," Arthur Berger says, "... advertising agencies and marketing experts, with their various typologies, do offer some very interesting information about the human psyche and what it is that makes us tick. They are continually probing us, trying to get at the G spot of consumer behavior and decision making, doing everything they can to understand us so they can -- in starkest terms -- manipulate us" (133-34). Leaving aside Berger's metaphorical flights of fancy, we'll test one of the typologies. Claritas Corp. of San Diego builds its business model on the idea that "birds of a feather flock together" ... by zip code. Let's see how it works by visiting Claritas' website and seeing what its typologies can tell us about Springfield.

(And what Springfield can tell us about the typologies.)

Go to the ZIP Code Look-Up page and enter our zip codes ... in a minute, we'll start with the north end, since we're smack in the middle of that part of town right now. But first, read the FAQ page.

Finished? Good. Now let's go back to "ZIP Code Look-Up" and enter 62702 (plus the security code below). You'll get five "PRIZM-NE" categories, starting with "American Classics," i.e. older, downscale adults. When you finish, return to the look-up page by clicking on the "Back" arrow (unless you enjoy reading "Warning: Page has Expired" error messages). Ask yourself: Does this sound like north-enders? Read the other categories. Same question. Look at the map on the lookup page. How much of the 62702 zip code area is north end? What other neighborhoods can you identify? What are their demographics like?

Here are a couple of other questions.

• Look up some of Springfield's other zip codes -- 62701, 62703, 62704 and 62707. What neighborhoods are included in each? How do their demographics vary (for example in 62703 and 62707)? How would you target a mailing to a diverse zip code?
  
• How well do Claritas' categories fit people in the neighborhoods you know? What, if anything, are the marketers leaving out? What do they emphasize?
  
• How useful, in general, do you think demographic segmentation is in analyzing a smaller metro area like Springfield? How much of it can you trust? What would you want to be suspicious of? What else would you want to know? What other kinds of information could you gather?
  
• Berger suggests, although I don't think he quite comes right out and says it, that demographics and advertising have an overall negative impact on society by splitting people into little categories based on consumption patterns. Agree or disagree? If your answer is, "yeah, both" (which is altogether likely), which parts do you agree with? Which parts do you disagree with?

At the end of his discussion of demographic and other marketing typologies, he also has something he calls

A CONCLUSION IN THE FORM OF A QUESTION
It's worth quoting in full here, because you may see it again:

The primary goal of advertising and marketing, of course, is to shape our behavior; advertising agencies can be looked at as hired guns, whose main job is to destroy consumer resistance and shape consumer desire and action -- whether it be to sell cigarettes, beer, politicians, or, lately, prescription medicines. And in some cases, it is to sell socially positive messages. There is little question that the information advertisers have about consumer motivation and the minds of consumers is a source of power. Is this power used ethically and for constructive purposes? That is the question. (135)