By Mitchell J. Schlesinger

Would you promote a world cruise to a 30-something couple with three children ages 1, 3 and 5? More than likely not.
Would you promote a family resort vacation to a couple, both 70, with no children? I don’t think so.
And if you live and work in a small community of primarily middle-income residents, would you focus your promotions on six-star cruises? Probably not.
Welcome to the wonderful world of demographics and psychographics. This is the first in a series of three articles concerning why they are especially important to Home Based agents and, properly understood and applied, can help you make more sales, earn more commissions and be more profitable.
Think of demographics and psychographics as a way to profile consumers and draw general conclusions about their lifestyle and purchasing habits. Nothing is exact 100% of the time. However, most statistical research applications about large groups of consumers are measurably valid.

Demographics are empirical measurements of consumers,
focusing on categories including:
• Age
• Income
• Work status
• Family/household composition
• Education
As Home Based agents, your more intimate knowledge of the demographics of the residents of the communities you are promoting is going to dictate what products you should have the most success selling and where and how you should focus your promotional efforts. For example:
• If your target market is a blue/gray collar community, current very “attractive” Caribbean cruise pricing makes this is an ideal product to promote and generate high volume sales.
• If you reside in a “bedroom” community, travel products focusing on family vacations should yield strong sales. With so many households having two working parents, there is strong “guilt factor” making the family vacation a priority to the parents.
• A large senior component in your target market represents opportunities to sell longer cruises that are usually purchased well in advance with little or no regard for seasonality. Seniors have disposable time and income. So, instead of worrying about hurricane season impacting fall sales, focus on promoting cruises to seniors to far-flung destinations during the September-November timeframe. But remember, you must promote well in advance.
• And as a final example, if neighborhoods are filled with large homes and fancy cars, this is your opportunity to promote five- and six-star travel to consumers who can afford to purchase it easily, plus others who aspire to travel in the same circles.

These examples of demographic groups connect to a discussion of psychographics, which measure psychological stimuli to purchase decisions:
• Needs
• Wants
• Expectations
• Personal Fulfillment
In many cases, the psychographics align directly to the demographics of the audiences you are promoting to. Lets go back to the examples above:
• The blue/gray collar middle income audience may only have one or two weeks of vacation a year, so their motivation is likely as much fun and excitement as they can pack into one week, which is why Caribbean cruises and Las Vegas packages are so popular.
• A family vacation MUST include the opportunity for “family time,” enrichment for the children and some parent alone time all in one trip. AND it must be in an environment the parents consider very safe. Beyond the core needs, travel destination options have broadened dramatically over the past 10-15 years.
• Seniors, with abundant time, are attracted to longer vacations that offer enrichment, education, fascinating destinations and personal fulfillment. They are more than willing to read reams of information about the trip. And best of all, this audience is more focused on value than just price. If it costs $4,000 per person and it seems like a good value, they will buy it.
• As for the five-and six-star audience, status is an important driver for purchases, plus the notion that this is going to a very luxury “experience” in terms of service and surroundings. And they will react to the promotion of products that can fulfill these needs in different spectrums, including small exclusive travel products or more mainstream products where they are in a small number of guests purchasing more exclusive accommodations.

Understanding demographics and psychographics is the key to minimizing your promotional efforts and maximizing your sales. And it is this efficiency that drives more profits to your business. Plus, it is vital to remember that consumers go through numerous changes during their lives that impact both their demographic status and the connective psychographics. Your understanding of these changes, how to react to them and the resulting service you provide is what will keep your clients loyal to you throughout the years.
In following articles, we will discuss specific demographic groups, their psychographics and what you need to know to maximize your promotional results.

Mitchell J. Schlesinger, president of MJS Consultants and a cruise industry veteran, can be reached at mjschlesinger@bellsouth.net