University
of Washington
Geography
367
Professor
Harrington
Issues and Problems in Using Geodemographic Analysis
Notes reflect reading John
Goss, "Marketing the New Marketing: The Strategic Discourse of Geodemographic
Information Systems" in Ground Truth: The Social Implications of Geographic
Information Systems, ed. by John Pickles (New York: Guilford
Press, 1995).
GEODEMOGRAPHIC PROFILING
A result of
-
product differentiation plus
-
consumer profiles plus
-
effective geographic targeting and mailing
Urban ecology (residential zones formed by groups of different economic
and social power) provided the theoretical basis for the observation that
“like tend to be near like” (or “bird of a feather flock together”).
What’s the problem with this (“ecological fallacy”)?
But do (sociologically) alike buy alike? This is what I’ll call
the “consumerist fallacy” that one can infer the consumer behavior
of the individual or household from social, economic, and demographic characteristics
of the individual or household.
USE OF GDIS
(Geographic) reality is seen as a set of discrete phenomena or locations,
that occur simultaneously in each place, but that don’t interact across
places.
"Strategy"
| assets (interior; controlled) versus environment
(exterior,
not controlled) |
| How to deploy or use assets, given the environment? |
| Is the consumer (or the business market) part of a company’s assets,
or environment? What about information about the consumer or business
market? |
| Strategic management requires a view of the environment, and GIS provides
that view, in a fashion that can seem to be literal. |
But until the ecological fallacy and the consumerist fallacy are dealt
with, what are we seeing through GDIS? (Think about this).
What are ways around these problems?
-
careful interpretation of the results of geodemographic analysis (how?)
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database info about actual consumer addresses and behaviors
-
working to increase the homogeneity of neighborhoods and the homogeneity
of purchasing patterns by demographic groups – are we moving toward or
away from these? (zoning, target marketing, versus the fragmentation
of TV and web information)
What difficulty does Goss predict with the acquisition and use of individual-level
data?
QUESTIONS
-
How would you characterize the ethical issues involved in geodemographic
marketing and database marketing? Does what is being marketed (e.g., targeting
AIDS prevention information to "at-risk" populations) make any difference?
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How would you attempt to resolve those issues, in your own use of GDIS?
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How concerned would you be in making location or marketing decisions, based
on geodemographic analysis? Based on spatial analysis of competition?
What are the alternatives to these types of analyses?
-
What’s the greatest benefit of a geographic approach to marketing?
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What’s the greatest barrier to a geographic approach to marketing?
copyright James W. Harrington, Jr.
revised 14 February 2000