After working in survey research for long enough, one can practically recite from memory the US census breakdown of the population by age, gender, ethnicity, and income. These demographic measures are almost sacrosanct in our industry.
But should they be? Of course they help us assume things about individuals based on the typical behavior of, say, all 25-40 year old females. And those inferences can help us understand our customer better (for example, what do they read? watch? eat?). But given the massive amounts of data generated by all of us as consumers every day, researchers no longer have to make educated assumptions.
Our behaviors are all out there – we continually leave a digital trail by purchasing products or interacting with brands. I’m proposing that this oversharing is a disruptive opportunity. Maybe instead of grouping people by traditional demographics, we can more effectively group by other metrics.
Netflix uses this approach, as does Amazon, and Zappos. Both companies make recommendations based on one’s previous activity – not necessarily the demographic one would traditionally be lumped in with all its assumed behavior. Sure, Sci Fi Action movies might not be all that popular with the average 30something year old female. But if her Netflix history shows her watching Hellboy and Thor, serving her up “The Notebook” solely based on her demographic profile will lead to a brand experience fail!
More important than just making the right recommendations, as this article on Mashable notes, the usage behavior can actually reveal deeper mechanics of the consumer’s thought process. If I only watch movies about young people falling in love, maybe it says something about my position in life, or what I am looking for personally. Maybe if I only watch documentaries about vegetarianism, it says something about my values. To me this is critical to the success of brands like Amazon and Zappos. They create brand disciples in their consumers because they meaningfully connect with their deeper aspirations, beliefs and values. By bringing humanity to the algorithm, they create a personal connection to the brand.
