Demographic Stereotypes are Holding Us Back

Demographic Stereotypes

Demographic stereotypes based on age, gender, income, and the rest are harmful, hurtful, and divisive. We must discard them once and for all.
Ageism, sexism, racism, homophobia…the list of destructive ideologies rooted in demographic stereotypes is long. Judging a group of people based on outward-facing demographic characteristics has caused so much hurt. But finally, diversity, equity, and inclusion are top-of-mind, and we've got truckloads of data to add to this important conversation. The 500,000+ surveys in our benchmark dataset prove these fundamental truths:

1. Demographics are a lousy way to understand each other. So why keep using them?
2. People can be accurately grouped based on what they value. Isn't this immediately better?

Here’s just one example. I've included a chart below that shows how much people resemble each other in various age groups. In other words, can you assume that people of a similar age are similar? Can you use broad sweeping generalizations (aka stereotypes) about people based on their age? Is ageism rooted in any kind of truth? The short answer is no. Age is a terrible indicator of similarity. It is enormously inaccurate to say anything like “Millenials love X” or “Generation Z is all about Y.” If I showed you the same chart for gender, income, race, education, or any other demographic cohort, it would look pretty much the same.

I’ve also attached another chart that shows how similar people are if you group them based on their shared values. It’s roughly 8X more accurate to use broad sweeping generalizations about people based on what they care about: what’s on the inside instead of what’s on the outside. That's 8X more alignment. 8X better ROI. 8X better understanding of what makes people tick. Why wouldn't we all want that?

If you'd like to make the switch to values-based target audience segmentation, talk to me. We can help. That’s what we do for organizations all over the world, across 180 countries.

But I’ll let you in on a little secret. Want to know what gets us out of bed every morning and excited about doing this work? Want to know why our team is so focused on bringing this 8X target audience upgrade to companies big and small all around the world?

It’s because slowly, gradually, as more and more organizations abandon demographic stereotypes and change the way they look at the world, it will change the world.

#valuegraphics #postdemographic #marketing #ageism #diversityequityinclusion #consumerbehavior #segmentation

This chart shows how similar people are within familiar age-based categories. They are not similar at all. Sweeping generalizations or stereotypes based on age are enormously inaccurate.

This chart shows how similar people are within five of the fifteen values-based archetypes. Cohorts based on shared values are strikingly more similar than those based on demographics.