Online Assignment #2_James Cho

My primary motivation was an “experiencer” which was interesting but overall inaccurate. The experiencer classification was described as “young, enthusiastic, and impulsive consumers” which I have to admit describes my consuming tendencies fairly well. I tend to purchase random things impulsively; however, for larger, more important items I thoroughly research the products prior to purchasing as any rational consumer would. I found the “favorite things” section of the description the most interesting. For the experiencer, the list included VW, Rolling Stone, Red Bull, and “to be entertained” which I thought was very general because who does not like to be entertained? Of the other items listed, I have no prior enthusiasm for VW, Rolling Stone or Red Bull. I question the usefulness of such systemized classifications of demographics. The classifications are just trade-offs between accuracy and generalization. How many people readily identify with all the attributes from a given VALS type?  What is the effect of specialized advertisements that appeal to specific VALS types? My secondary type was “innovator” which is described as “change leaders and are the most receptive to new ideas and technologies” and their “favorite things” include BMW’s, Wired, sparkling water and “a rewarding experience”. The favorite things section is weird, I don’t like sparkling water or Wired, and again who does not like a rewarding experience. Overall, I identify more with this description of Innovators but most of the attributes are too general for me to consider the VALS type system accurate or useful.