Personas

Throughout the week there have been lectures and readings dealing with how to form a persona for a segmented target market. Karen, from P&G, and the readings on persona lifecycles both describe the steps taken to develop these insights by understanding the traditional factors of segmentation (behaviors, characteristics, and motivations) of a particular group. 

If a marketer would need to create a persona of me the first step would be to find fundamental data such as my demographics. Then after interviewing and observing me, data on psychographics, attitudes, behaviors, etc. should all be recorded to get a basic understanding of who I am. During class we did a project with photo collages and photo journals. Some of the key flaws with these research types are interviewer bias and interviewees portraying an ideal image of themselves instead of who they really are. Thus, I would recommend that the marketer interview the people in my life to avoid those types of errors. With the collected information, marketers can begin to develop insights that would cater to my brand. 

To begin exploring what would make up my persona, here is some information about myself that would be useful. 

Family

I was raised by my brother, Alexander, which is why I fault him for my manliness. His interests became mine and sadly I began to realize I was turning into an Alexandra. My parents were never home and did not support me financially. Thus when I turned sixteen, I began to work legally. As for my sister, she was never home because she was always doing gymnastics. As you can see from my family history, one may have concern for the emotional development of the children. Despite this oddly functioning family, after college, we have all learned to appreciate one another and we are now a very close knit family.

Student

I am a college student that supports herself through college. Since I am paying for my education, I value it and want to get the most out of UT. I would even like to go to gradate school after working for a few years.

Buying behavior

I am obsessed with technology. My purchases tend to gravitate towards products that make my life easier because my schedule is filled with school and work. Also since I support myself, I feel the products I buy should be worth the money I earned. I always read reviews for almost everything I purchase because quite frankly I use the internet way too much, so why not? Also, everything I purchase must have some sort of justifiable utility that will appease the cognitive dissonance of blowing all my paycheck on something. This also shows that I make few purchases, but they are usually expensive items.

Leisure

Looking back at Freshman year, I think I have beaten myself dry with the “typical college life,” which in UT terms means partying all weekend. I like to say I have gotten over that time in my life and no longer find the "typical college life" as hyped up as it seems. Thus, for my leisure time I like to spend it at home hanging out with my friends or eating out with them. I try to steer away from downtown because I do not need that drama in my life anymore, and if you think about it how fun is it really dealing with a hangover everyday?