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VALS™ Lens Applying VALS™ to current events April 2014

The U.S. VALS Framework graphic

In this issue:

In Music: Country's Growing Fan Base

The American Marketing Association (AMA) recently spoke with Tom Worcester, an executive at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles, California, about the positive demographic shifts among radio listeners of country music. The growing popularity of country music among younger, wealthier, and more ethnically diverse audiences appears to present many opportunities for marketers wishing to advertise in the number one radio format. From a VALS™ perspective, stereotypes that country music fans are mostly "downscale or rural" have been mistaken all along. About 20% of US adults listen to country, a constant percentage between 2002 and 2013, according to VALS™/GfK MRI (Doublebase studies). Although hands-on Makers are about 40% more likely than average to listen, country also enjoys average popularity among Achievers, Experiencers, and Strivers. Given this diversity, advertisers would do well to match their offers to meet the needs of different types of country listeners. For example, Achievers listen more during commute times and as a way to relax, whereas Experiencers may be streaming radio content online and would expect exciting product offers supporting their many noncountry tastes and preferences.

Read AMA's interview with Worcester

In Leadership: Will Women Dominate the Tech Field?

Craig Newmark, founder of and customer-service representative for Craigslist (www.craigslist.org), sees positive news on the horizon about gender equity in the computer sciences. Citing an upswing in the number of female computer-science graduates from Stanford in the past 10 years (and from the University of Virginia in the past 25 years), coupled with the outnumbering of male by female college graduates, Newmark believes women may lead the future of technology. Computer-science and management occupations are dominated by Innovators and Thinkers, regardless of sex. Nationally, the percentage of women in computer occupations actually shrank between 2005 and 2013 (from an already minuscule 0.82% to 0.67%), mostly because of a reduction in the number of female Innovators. Similarly, although the overall proportion of women in management positions has held steady between 2005 and 2013, the percentage of female Innovators shrank by 5% in that same period—in favor of Achievers women, who are less interested in computer science. Women will certainly continue to make significant strides in many fields, but without efforts to make the tech sector more attractive to female Innovators, women will remain underrepresented as leaders in that field.

Read Craig Newmark's analysis

In Publishing: Barbie and Sports Illustrated

In March 2014, Sports Illustrated's (SI's) famed Swimsuit Edition hit newsstands with an unlikely cover model: Barbie. As SI intended, the unusual move lit up the blogosphere. Critics accused SI of simultaneously mixing apples and oranges (child and adult content), promoting unattainable ideals of beauty to young girls, and dehumanizing women by featuring a plastic doll instead of the typical supermodel or athlete. Others have praised the move as a clever, tongue-in-cheek marketing tactic. From a VALS point of view, the move does raise eyebrows. Even though one could argue that the average audience for the Swimsuit Edition is more diverse than is usual for a regular edition, the audience is unlikely to include little girls. Importantly, SI's core audience will miss the significance of oblique cultural references about how Barbie "started it all." Unsurprisingly, nearly 80% of the average audience of the magazine is male, with over one-third of the male audience represented by Experiencers and Strivers. Experiencers and Strivers also make up the largest proportion of SI's heavy readers, and they likely anticipated the typical tantalizing execution of the cover. The Barbie Edition reflects the increasing tension companies face between gaining attention in the age of social media and keeping the core customer happy.

See Barbie's poses

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