Provocateur:

COVID-19 changed everything. It has deeply impacted the way each American works, shops, socializes, and approaches daily life. Likewise, it’s had sweeping effects on businesses in nearly every industry—from restaurants and retail to travel and technology. 

Marketers initially responded to this unique situation with a steady refrain of “we’re in this together” to convey a sense of calmness and unity. And while unifying against a common threat can create a feeling of strength, in many respects American consumers have actually been more “apart together” than unified.  

The reality is that a variety of personal circumstances, beliefs, and values have caused Americans to experience and respond to the pandemic in very different ways. 

The pandemic amplifies the need for targeting

To thrive in this fragmented market, businesses must understand the different pandemic-era consumer segments and appeal to them with communication and offerings targeted to their specific needs.

Burke, a marketing research and insights company, and sister company Seed Strategy, a growth acceleration firm, conducted comprehensive COVID-19 consumer segmentation research to help marketers improve the effectiveness of their targeting during the pandemic and beyond. 

More than 2,000 American consumers participated in a 30-minute survey exploring COVID-19 attitudes, behaviors, worries, shopping patterns, demographics, psychographics, and more. This was complemented by follow-up video interviews with 30 of the survey participants, representing the different consumer segments revealed in the quantitative analysis. Together, these quantitative and qualitative studies formed the foundation of the COVID-19 consumer segmentation.

Using advanced statistical techniques and machine learning, our data scientists looked at convergence in themes across segmentation solutions. This robust analysis uncovered eight segments:

• The Wayfinders: Concerned youth who fear missing out on what they want their life to be today and in the future.
• The Determined: Young Americans trying to maintain their independence and current lifestyle, despite a setback.
• The Frazzled: Stressed families struggling to juggle work, childcare, and financial obligations.
• The Empathetic: Thriving households that feel a serious responsibility to care for both their family and their community.
• The Protective: Vulnerable family units that are staying safe at home due to health concerns.
• The Bold: Independent thinkers who want businesses to get back to “normal” despite the risk.
• The Enlightened: Secure older adults who use their experience to help others navigate these challenging times.
• The Isolated: Worried seniors who have reluctantly sheltered in place to protect their health.

These eight segments span a range of life circumstances—from younger consumers just transitioning into adulthood, to people raising families, to elders who are nearing or in retirement. This demographic foundation gives the segmentation durability throughout the pandemic. Differences in top worries—such as health concerns, the U.S. economy, personal financial situations, and mental health—help further distinguish one segment from another. Additional defining characteristics include psychographics, such as local versus global orientation, self- or community focus, general optimism or pessimism, and whether personal tendencies are analytical and scientific or creative and artistic.  

All of these variables were mined to understand what segments of like-minded and similarly behaving American consumers exist during this historic time.  

New segments enable marketers to help consumers in new ways

The extensive data collected on the segments reveals how these clusters of consumers think, feel, and behave. By looking at attributes such as the brands they shop in banking, healthcare, QRS, tech, and other categories, plus their social media usage and specific mindsets, we can paint a detailed picture of their lifestyles and preferences.  

With these profiles as a backdrop, marketers can identify the potential that each segment offers for their particular business. The corresponding core tensions for each segment, along with their primary functional and emotional needs, can empower marketers to craft highly effective marketing campaigns targeted to the segments that align with their brand’s particular goals. 

For example, members of The Frazzled need help taming the chaos in their households with children, so marketers offering solutions that appeal to young kids—like Apple with free books and Fisher-Price with “work from home” office toys—meet their functional needs. And the Protective segment needs distanced shopping options due to health comorbidities that make them vulnerable, so offerings like Panera’s Grocery that enables guests to order meals along with grocery items in one contactless order would appeal to this group. 

Marketers must understand their targets to succeed in any environment. A situation as unique and disruptive as a global pandemic only heightens the need for enhanced consumer learning. It highlights the value of a direct line of sight to segments’ unique tensions, so marketers can use better targeting and position themselves to more effectively meet the evolving needs of today’s consumers. 

About the Author

Jamie Baker-Prewitt, Ph.D., is chief research officer at Burke Inc. She helps organizations make sound business decisions using science, pragmatism, and psychology.