The development of psychographics and lifestyle analysis for segmenting the actual market in making program-related and promotion-related decisions in non-credit programs

This study investigated the potential of psychographics and lifestyle analysis for segmenting the actual market in continuing education so that program and promotion related decisions could be made more effectively. One basic research question was whether or not the technique had power to distinquish among adult learners currently enrolled in different types of learning activities. In other words, did psychographic and lifestyle data disclose that current participants in different learning activities have a different learning interests, opinions on social and education issues, motivations for participation, feelings of job satisfaction, leisure activities, television viewing habits, and organizational membership?

A stratified random sample of 500 adult students enrolled in non-credit courses in the Department of Non- Credit Programs, Division of Continuing Education, at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, during the Winter Quarter of 1978 comprised subjects of the study. Three hundred sixty-nine replies, or 73.8 percent of the questionnaires, were returned.

Using learning groups as the independent variable the following analyses were undertaken - discriminant analysis was conducted on each of the following psychographic and lifestyle dimensions: opinions, interest, motivation for participation, activities in the past year, television viewing habits, magazine preferences, job satisfaction and demographic scores (age, family income, highest level of education attained, number of children). A chi-square : analysis was conducted on radio station preferences, sex, marital status, religious affiliation, occupation, zip code, number of non-credit programs taken previously, and first page of newspaper read after the general news on page one. Responses to interests and activities in the past year items were factor analyzed to structure a correlation matrix. The level of significance used for all statistical tests was p<.10.

The data disclosed that psychographics and lifestyle analysis had the ability to differentiate among the 369 adult students enrolled in the five learning groups. Each dimension of the research instrument provided statistically significant results except for the Job Satisfaction dimension. The overall reliability was estimated at .94 when scored by Cronbach's Alpha. The research instrument has face, content and construct validity.

If the research instrument had to be reduced in length for brevity and yet provide the researcher with the most reliable data to make marketing decisions, the job satisfaction, interest, activities in the past year, television viewing habits/preference, and magazine preference dimensions would comprise the psychographic and lifestyle analysis section of the research instrument. Data suggested that continuing education administrators could "target" their promotional activities and reach specific groups if they had access to psychographic and lifestyle information.