Changing the way you think about age: Marketing strategies based on perceived age rather than chronological age

Transcription

1 23 The Age Frame, a model developed by Lisa Edgar (the Big Window) explains and predicts how old consumers perceive themselves to be. It gives brands a model by which they can more accurately target their audiences and markets. Together with David Bunker (BBC) she applied this framework to BBC data, demonstrating the value of understanding perceived age and, specifically for the BBC, its ability to understand media-related preferences and behavior. Changing the way you think about age: Marketing strategies based on perceived age rather than chronological age Lisa Edgar, David Bunker and Nicole Huyghe About Non-chronological Age and the Age Frame How old are you? A quite straightforward question it seems. But, looking a bit further than our ID card, age is more than the time passed since the day we were born. We do not simply see ourselves as our chronological age; it is how old we see ourselves that is important (i.e. how old we feel, how old we feel we look, our mental age and so on). Interested in the impact of perceived age on the way we live our everyday lives and the

2 24 Changing the way you think about age choices we make, Lisa Edgar (Founder, the Big Window Consulting Limited) developed a new model about age: the Age Frame. The Age Frame explains how consumers frame or perceive their ages. It gives organizations and brands an approach and model by which they can more accurately target their audiences and markets based on the age they relate to, not the age we relate to them. The Big Window Consulting Limited built the Age Frame. Supported by Solutions-2 with some of the advanced statistics and data exploration, the Big Window developed a composite measure of perceived age as well as identifying the 3 factors that support it: an Internal measure (the age we feel/think), an External measure (the age we feel we look) and an Interactive measure (the age we identify with) - these factors are invaluable for sector-appropriate modeling. What makes some people feel younger than others or older than others was also identified (including, spontaneity/initiative, marital status, working status, hobbies and interests), enabling us to map where brands/ products sit and who they really appeal to. age. This means that, although there are significant differences between both age measures, it is possible to predict perceived age from chronological age. A detailed analysis of perceived age across the age groups revealed the nature of the (fascinating) relationship between the Age Frame construct and chronological age and suggests that we, as marketers, might be thinking about consumers in a very different to the way they see themselves. The figures reveal that at the younger end, respondents perceive themselves to be older than their actual years. The difference between the two age measures is smallest between years (when individuals seemingly feel their chronological age) and then gets increasingly larger as individuals feel younger in every way than their chronological age suggests. The Big Window then collaborated with David Bunker, Head of Research at the BBC who put the approach and model to the test. The Age Frame : The Findings The Age Frame revealed a set of very interesting findings on the significant differences between our chronological and perceived age. Firstly, and as expected, there is a high correlation between our chronological and perceived The fact that older people perceive themselves to be younger than their chronological age states is also perhaps not a surprise, but that they feel so much younger is particularly interesting. Respondents approaching 40 perceive themselves to be between 3-4 years younger than they are in chronological years. However, this difference between chronological age and perceived age continues to increase until people are in their early 70s and, on average, consider themselves to be 16.5years younger than they really are! This suggests that in age terms (at least until their 70s) individuals can get stuck in their 50s, certainly as far as how they think, feel and who they relate to is concerned. This could be crucial in terms of strategic planning, marketing and communications.

3 Changing the way you think about age 25 BBC: link between the Age Frame and media behaviour It had become clear through this research that analysing and targeting consumers by biological or chronological age alone can really be quite limiting it is potentially targeting consumers on a variable that they themselves don t relate to. We wanted to see, however, whether our measure of perceived was something that could be used to target more effectively. To do this, we examined whether and how perceived age could be linked to media-related behaviour and preferences. With this in mind Lisa Edgar (the Big Window) and David Bunker (BBC) used the BBC s online media panel to collect information about age and media behaviour. Completed questionnaires of 2,789 panel members were analysed (and since then a further sample of c.3000 has been added and analysed). The study gathered a wealth of data about how people frame their ages as well as situational and motivational data about the individual and their media behavior. The Age Frame is able to predict programme preference and tells us much more than chronological age alone. To give readers a feel for how useful it was, the results for TV Channel Preferences and Drama and Scripted comedy programmes are shown below. TV Channel Preferences Chronological age is obviously very important across a wide range of sectors. Like other sectors, the media use it to help them develop products, strategies and marketing tactics. However, understanding more about how audiences of particular channels and programmes actual see themselves would be invaluable. It would help to understand why people of the same chronological age enjoy and watch completely different programmes. The Big Window and BBC explored preferences for TV Channels, TV Genres, Radio Channels and a wide range of programmes in considerable detail and then mapped them against their chronological and perceived (as measured by the Age Frame construct) age. The results were invaluable. The Age Frame is able to predict programme preference and tells us much more than chronological age alone.

4 26 Changing the way you think about age The figure maps the average chronological age of the consumers for a channel (on the X axis) by their perceived age variance (on the Y axis). The variance plots the degree to which the average viewer of that channel feels older or younger than the average variance for their age group. So, if on average people of that chronological age group feel about 10 years younger than their chronological age and the average viewer of the channel feels 12 years younger than their chronological age, this will be plotted as a variance of minus 2. The same applies in the opposite direction - if they feel older than the average variance. This means we can map where each of the television channels sit in relation to both chronological and perceived age (as measured by the Age Frame construct). Drama and Scripted Comedy The map below can be read in the same way as the one for television channel preferences. Above the horizontal line are the programmes that appeal to the more mature at heart, whilst below the line programmes are those that appeal to the younger at heart. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the animations genre appeals to the younger at heart as well as a chronologically younger audience. But perceived age shows that although Family Guy and the Simpsons appeal to people of a similar chronological age, the Simpsons skews a bit more to those who are particularly young at heart The channel positions on the (horizontal) X-axis are fairly predictable for example, it shows us the unsurprising news that BBC3 has a much younger average audience than BBC1. Much more interesting in relation to this study, is the position of the channels above and below the horizontal axis. If the average perceived age difference of those who consume a particular channel is the same as the overall sample, the channel would be on the line; channels mapped above the line appeal more to people who are mature at heart for their age; those below the line to people who are young at heart for their age. This map gives us much more than we would get from using chronological age alone. Below are just some of the highlights for TV Channel preferences: All the BBC channels except BBC3 sit slightly in the more mature at heart area G.O.L.D. really appeals to those who feel quite a bit older than the average for their chronological age providing a real nostalgia fix for those enjoying looking back. Perhaps surprisingly, More 4 has a more young at heart positioning than Channel 4, though the average chronological age of those who favour them is not that different. Other programs that particularly appealed to the young at heart included reality TV and ce-

5 Changing the way you think about age 27 lebrity focused shows such as Made in Chelsea and Big Brother. Above the line, we generally find programs with more real life issues at their heart - covering more serious subjects: death, the battle to lose weight, marriage, raising children. The program at the top left was Britain s Youngest Undertaker the audience was young in elapsed years, but maybe not so much in their outlook! Finally, what was particularly interesting is that we can really see the sweet spot or heartland for the most popular mainstream shows on the big channels, such as EastEnders, I m a Celebrity and Dr Who they are middle-aged chronologically but appeal to people of that age who feel younger at heart An Invaluable Step Forward for the BBC It s worth repeating that these insights do not just show that some television programmes appeal more to younger people than do others we knew that already. What they show are that some programmes tend to appeal to people who feel younger than average for their age, whatever that is, and others to those who feel older. Using the Age Frame, we have found insights into taste/preferences and behaviours that wouldn t be apparent from just looking at the chronological age of those who watch the programmes concerned. So, to conclude, we are confident that using the Age Frame approach helped and will continue to help identify the programmes that appeal beyond their chronological age and deepens what we already know in this area. The BBC has learnt enough already to want to do a lot more of this to get an even finer-grained sense of non-chronological age, particularly at the older end; to look at more programmes; and to look at how other attitudes and behaviours relate to the age constructs, such as views on tastes and standards in broadcasting. These are just some of the ways in which the BBC believes it can use the approach. More intelligent scheduling placing programmes together in the schedule that Our work with the BBC confirmed our hopes that more effective marketing models can be developed for sectors, products and brands, including the ability to develop age perception models that are sector or brand-specific. have a similar perceived-age appeal; making schedules more complementary to what is on the other channels; looking at opportunities in times of the evening when people who are older or younger at heart are more likely to be around. Placing adverts and trails putting adverts or trails in or around shows that have a consistent perceived age appeal. Better targeting of prospects setting a channel or station the task of reaching out to people who, from a perceived age perspective, are in tune with their values but not already watching or listening, and tracking their progress in this using our panel. Marketing content are the messages we are sending in tune with the age construct of the people we are aiming them at? Branding how does the perception of our masterbrand/channel brands/service brands vary amongst the different groups by age construct is it different to chronological age? Better market intelligence introducing routine reporting on both a programme s age construct and chronological centre of gravity, and highlight where the biggest gaps occur, or track when they start to converge or diverge? Based on our experience so far, the BBC has planned to roll out this approach and ascertain the age constructs of everyone on our panel.

6 28 Changing the way you think about age An Invaluable Step Forward for all of us involved in marketing strategy and tactics We have seen that using the Age Frame approach gives us a much more precise understanding of people s mind-sets that we cannot always get from chronological age alone. It allows us to develop marketing strategies and tactics according to the age that consumers actually relate to. Our work with the BBC confirmed our hopes that more effective marketing models can be developed for sectors, products and brands, including the ability to develop age perception models that are sector or brand-specific. In other words, by understanding the factors that underpin the overall Age Frame construct, we have been able to develop models that, for example, are more appropriate to the travel industry (e.g. by developing an Age Frame model which leans more towards the Interactive/social construct of perceived age) versus models that maybe more appropriate to the cosmetics industry (e.g. by developing an Age Frame model which leans more towards the External/ cosmetic construct of perceived age). These are just 2 examples of the many uses of the Age Frame model. Lisa Edgar is the founder of the Big Window Consulting Limited, a research agency which helps organisations move forward through a psychology-based understanding of how emotions, thoughts, processes and motivations drive consumers and organisations decisions and behaviours. Lisa has worked in the research industry for over 20 years; both client and agency side, with the past 15 years at director level. David Bunker has worked in media research for over 25 years, first agency then client side at the BBC. At the latter he has worked in most parts of the Corporation, including radio, as a Senior Adviser to the BBC Trust, and a recent 4-year stint as Head of Audiences at BBC television. David currently heads projects in the BBC s central Audiences team. Nicole Huyghe is the founder of solutions-2, an international consultancy company offering statistical services. Nicole, who has an Engineering degree from the University of Ghent and an MA in Applied Statistics from the University of California at Berkeley, has more than 16 years experience in statistical consultancy, analysis and training. Prior to starting solutions-2 (October 2002), she worked for P&G, NOP and Morpace.