Introduction to lifestyle planning
Target groups compared to lifestyles
There are many ways to get to grips with the demand side in urban regeneration. In the mid-1980s, using target groups was the way to plan. Thinking in terms of lifestyle groups does not replace thinking in terms of target groups. The one complements the other. Target groups allow us to understand what people are. Lifestyle groups allow us to understand what people want.
Target group |
Lifestyle |
| are | want |
| how many people can buy the product | who wants to buy the product |
| determined by circumstances | determined by the people themselves |
| components: income, age, household, address, study, consumption pattern, … | components: taste, conscious or subconscious standards and value system, ambitions, view of life, thinking about status… |
| variable according to time of life | relatively constant (because value system is also relatively constant) |
| derived from policy objective: the target we want | derived from target group: who are the people in the target group we can actually convince to move |
| measurable in quantitative terms | qualitative components for product development |
Note: target groups and lifestyles often coincide in urban renewal areas. People with low incomes do differ in terms of lifestyle but they have few resources for expressing that lifestyle.
next: lifestyles are about value systems