What do you call the statistical characteristics of the human population used to identify markets?

The healthcare system uses demographics and behavioral data (e.g., hospital utilization, claims data) to define and identify patients and populations. Hospitals, health insurance companies, urgent care centers and provider of all types group patients and other health consumers into subpopulations through a process of consumer segmentation for purposes of marketing, risk stratification and patient engagement.

Consumer segmentation is a useful tool for driving specificity and efficiencies in targeting, but demographics do not go far enough to influence health consumer behavior. Before an explanation is offered for this statement, first let's define the terms used in this article.

According to Merriam-Webster, demographics are the statistical characteristics of human populations, used especially to identify markets. These include age, gender, race/ethnicity and many other physical variables.

Socioeconomics are social and economic factors, such as income, education and employment and affect one's ability to make healthy choices, afford medical care and housing, manage stress and more. These are a primary driver of Social Determinants of Health. For the purposes of this article, socioeconomics are included in references to demographics for simplicity.

The main issue with targeting and engaging health consumers is that members of a group with shared physical or situational characteristics do not all think and act alike. While generations like Millennials tend to get painted as a homogenous mass marching in lockstep, there is strong diversity of thought among this cohort. The same is true with gender, ethnicity and even people sharing the same health conditions. Why are some patients motivated to tackle a disease while others are more casual in their approach? Why do some patients listen to their physicians and follow their advice while other patients are more challenging? Why are some health consumers dedicated to a healthy lifestyle while others... not so much?

For these answers one needs to look beyond demographics.

Psychographics

Psychographics pertain to people's attitudes, values, beliefs, lifestyles and personalities. They are core to consumers' motivations, priorities and communication preferences. Psychographics help answer WHY patients and other health consumers make decisions and behave in certain ways.

Psychographic segmentation allows a marketer or clinician to identify health consumer types who are most likely to respond to a given subject and to craft messaging that activates desired behaviors. Psychographic segmentation has been used extensively in the consumer products, retail, automotive and financial industries since the 1970's, but it is relatively new to healthcare. It provides a lens to consumers' ways of thinking and how they make decisions.

My team led the psychographic segmentation work for Procter & Gamble Healthcare for the better part of 20 years, developing three generations of models before I joined PatientBond. PatientBond's model is an evolution of that work and has identified five distinct psychographic segments among health consumers (numbers in parentheses are the percentages of the U.S. population age 18+ represented by that segment:

• Self Achievers (19%) - Goal oriented and motivated by measurable progress, Self Achievers are the most proactive and invested in their health.
• Balance Seekers (17%) - Seeking options and choices and driven by knowledge and new information, Balance Seekers are also wellness-focused and explore different avenues to healthy living.
• Priority Jugglers (18%) - Focused on responsibilities and managing a busy schedule, Priority Jugglers may not invest in their own health but make sure their loved ones get the care they need.
• Direction Takers (15%) - Wanting directive guidance from an expert healthcare professional, Direction Takers are higher utilizers of the healthcare system but do not generally exhibit preventative behaviors.
• Willful Endurers (31%) - Living in the "here and now" and wanting immediate gratification, Willful Endurers are reactive - and often disengaged - in their healthcare.
• Each psychographic segment requires a different engagement strategy to maximize behavior activation. This includes segment-specific word choice and channel/media mix. What works for one psychographic segment does not necessarily work for another segment

For example, Priority Jugglers value commitment, dedication, responsibility and sacrifice, but you need to hook them immediately since they don't have much time to digest a lot of health information. SMS/text messaging works well with Priority Jugglers. Self Achievers respond well to goals, success, progress and achievement, and they are willing to put time toward

researching health information. Self Achievers prefer email and printed documents for the extra information they can provide.

The key takeaway is that a "one size fits all" approach will not be effective in activating desired behaviors across a population of health consumers.

Psychographics in Healthcare 

Healthcare organizations of all types are starting to see how psychographics can help them achieve their business and clinical goals. This has manifested as increased revenues, market share and patient loyalty, improved health outcomes and boosts in patient financial reposibility payments.

The following case studies illustrate the power of leveraging psychographics and patient-preferred communication channels to maximize results:

Accessing Psychographic Insights

It is a major investment in both dollars and hours to develop a reliable psychographic segmentation model. The model needs to be tested and validated in the field and proven stable and effective over time, especially for a risk-averse industry such as healthcare.

To make it easy for healthcare organizations to benefit from psychographics, PatientBond has developed an online, dashboard-driven Psychographics Marketing Package. This includes the market research data from PatientBond's July 2020 study on health consumer attitudes and behaviors in the era of COVID-19. The data can also be analyzed by demographics, socioeconomics and health condition, in addition or conjunction with the psychographic segments.

The package also includes psychographic segment heatmaps for any geography in the U.S. and the "codebook" to effective segment engagement. It's really the "easy button" to get the data and insights healthcare organizations need to turbocharge their marketing and provide the confidence they need for winning strategies.

Contact PatientBond today to discuss how psychographic segmentation can help your organization thrive.

The demographic characteristics of a population, esp. as classified by age, sex, income, etc., for market research, sociological analysis, etc.

The characteristics of human populations and population segments, especially when used to identify consumer markets.

The demographics of the Southwest indicate a growing population of older consumers.

Demographics is defined as statistical data about the characteristics of a population, such as the age, gender and income of the people within the population.

When the census assembles data about people's ages and genders, this is an example of assembling information about demographics.

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Demographic analysis is the study of a population-based on factors such as age, race, and sex. Demographic data refers to socioeconomic information expressed statistically, including employment, education, income, marriage rates, birth and death rates, and more.

Governments, corporations, and non-government organizations use demographics to learn more about a population's characteristics for many purposes, including policy development and economic market research.

For example, a company that sells high-end RVs may want to reach people nearing or at retirement age and the percentage of those who can afford their products.

• Demographic analysis is the collection and analysis of broad characteristics about groups of people and populations.
• Demographic data is very useful for businesses to understand how to market to consumers and plan strategically for future trends in consumer demand.
• The combination of the internet, big data, and artificial intelligence is greatly amplifying the usefulness and application of demographics as a tool for marketing and business strategy.
• Market segments are often grouped by age or generation.
• Demographic information can be used in many ways to learn more about the generalities of a particular population.

Demographic analysis is the collection and study of data regarding the general characteristics of specific populations. It is frequently used as a business marketing tool to determine the best way to reach customers and assess their behavior. Segmenting a population by using demographics allows companies to determine the size of a potential market.

The use of demographics helps determine whether its products and services are being targeted to that company's most influential consumers. For example, market segments may identify a particular age group, such as baby boomers (born 1946–1964) or millennials (born 1981–1996), with specific buying patterns and characteristics.

The advent of the internet, social media, predictive algorithms, and big data has dramatic implications for collecting and using demographic information. Modern consumers give out a flood of data, sometimes unwittingly, collected and tracked through their online and offline lives by myriad apps, social media platforms, third-party data collectors, retailers, and financial transaction processors.

Combined with the growing field of artificial intelligence, this mountain of collected data can be used to predict and target consumer choices and buying preferences with uncanny accuracy based on their demographic characteristics and past behavior.

For corporate marketing goals, demographic data is collected to build a customer base profile. The common variables gathered in demographic research include age, sex, income level, race, employment, location, homeownership, and level of education. Demographical information makes certain generalizations about groups to identify customers.

Additional demographic factors include gathering data on preferences, hobbies, lifestyle, and more. Governmental agencies collect data when conducting a national census and may use that demographic data to forecast economic patterns and population growth to better manage resources.

You can gather demographic information on a large group and then break it down into smaller subsets for deeper dive into your research.

Most large companies conduct demographic research to determine how to market their product or service and best market to the target audience. It is valuable to know the current customer and where the potential customer may come from in the future. Demographic trends are also significant since the size of different demographic groups changes over time due to economic, cultural, and political circumstances.

This information helps the company decide how much capital to allocate to production and advertising. For example, the aging U.S. population has specific needs that companies want to anticipate. Each market segment can be analyzed for its consumer spending patterns. Older demographic groups spend more on healthcare products and pharmaceuticals, and communicating with these customers differs from that of their younger counterparts.

Demographics refers to the description or distribution of characteristics of some target audience, customer base, or population. Governments use socioeconomic information to understand the age, racial makeup, and income distribution (among several other variables) in neighborhoods, cities, states, and nations in order to make better public policy decisions.

Companies look to demographics to craft more effective marketing and advertising campaigns and to understand patterns among different audiences.

The U.S. Census Bureau collects demographic data on the American population every year through the American Community Survey (ACS) and every 10-years via an in-depth count of every American household. Companies use marketing departments or outsource to specialized marketing firms to collect demographics on users, customers, or prospective client groups. Academic researchers also collect demographic data for research purposes using various survey instruments. Political parties and campaigns also collect demographics in order to target messaging for political candidates.

Demographics are key to businesses today. They help identify the individual members of an audience by selecting key characteristics, wants, and needs. This allows companies to tailor their efforts based on particular segments of their customer base. Online advertising and marketing have made enormous headway over the past decade in using algorithms and big data analysis to micro-target ads on social media to very specific demographics.

Economists recognize that one of the major drivers of economic growth is population growth. There is a straightforward relationship when identifying this: Growth Rate of gross domestic product (GDP)=Growth Rate of Population+Growth Rate of GDP per capita, where GDP per capita is simply GDP divided by population. The more people around, the more available workers there are in the labor force, and also more people to consume items like food, energy, cars, and clothes. There are also demographic problems that lie on the horizon, such as an increasing number of retirees who, while no longer in the workforce, are nonetheless expected to live longer lives. Unfortunately, the number of new births seems to be too low to replace those retirees in the workforce.