Unlike static demographic and psychographic techniques, identity marketing taps into the multilayered and fluid nature of who customers are and who they want to be.
People categorize themselves on the basis of demographics, social roles and shared consumption patterns, and these various identities are both numerous and fluid, changing over an individual’s lifetime and across situations. That fact is not fully recognized by traditional demographic and psychographic techniques, and the labels that consumers use to define who they are do not necessarily correspond to the variables that marketers typically rely on. A new approach — identity marketing — better captures the complex process of how people’s sense of who they are influences their purchase decisions.
To be sure, the complexity of identity-based judgments presents both opportunities and obstacles for marketers, but companies often fail to appreciate this. In fact, many marketing blunders can be traced back to a fundamental misunderstanding of customer identity. Common mistakes include the following: (1) selling new products solely on their features, (2) failing to solidify first-mover advantage, (3) fighting the competition head-on, (4) sticking with what’s worked before, (5) underestimating low-involvement products, and (6) attacking negative word-of-mouth. Identity marketing helps companies avoid such mistakes by providing a deeper understanding of how customers become strongly attracted to the brands and products that are linked to their multiple — and sometimes seemingly contradictory — identities.
1 Comment On: The Complexity of Identity
“but a brand may also embody an “aspirational identity” — the type of person an individual admires or wants to become more like.”
Totally agree. Once a company has this sort of power (eg. Apple) they can almost do no wrong. They can also charge way more than the product is worth, because people want so much to be associated with what they think the product embodies.