According to Merriam-Webster, psychographics are "market research or statistics classifying population groups according to psychological variables (as attitudes, values, or fears); also : variables or trends identified through such research." The term comes from combining "psychology" and "demographics."
Psychographics include a person's aspirations, hobbies, modes of communication, and other ways they live their lives. It's how they spend their money and their time. For market research, psychographics are important to know for many reasons; not only does this information help businesses target people who are likely to use their product/service based on their interests and values, but it helps them determine how best to promote it.
Examples of psychographic information: social media usage, TV/cable subscriptions, taste in music/movies/books, political affiliation, etc.
Psychographic information can be found in several Commucation Studies & Public Relations databases such as DemographicsNow; find links to these resources below.
Psychographics are also often found in scholarly articles. Use OneSearch, the Carpenter Library's discovery tool, to find articles that discuss psychographic information.
Suggested keyword search: (target audience) and the word psychographics. Here are some examples:
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