Nielsen, EthniFacts unveil ‘intercultural affinity’ segmentation tool

New York-based Nielsen and cross-cultural insights provider EthniFacts launched a new Intercultural Affinity Segmentation tool, Nielsen said. The consumer behavior model is said to combine the power of the Nielsen Homescan Panel with EthniFacts’ CulturSort cross-cultural survey to help marketing professionals understand shoppers who, regardless of their race and ethnicity, demonstrate that they can think, act and buy outside of their root culture.

The Nielsen Intercultural Affinity Segmentation model divides consumers into five segments:

• Monoculturals –– consumers who do not experience or participate in diverse lifestyles or tastes other than their root culture.
• Sideliners –– consumers who are aware of but generally don’t exhibit diverse tastes and preferences, yet don’t avoid them.
• Explorers –– consumers who experiment with and have tried diverse tastes and preferences on a limited basis.
• Enthusiasts –– consumers who are exposed to and embrace diverse tastes and preferences but are not leaders in this regard.
• Ambiculturals –– environment and lifestyle leaders who influence other consumers with “effortless affinity” to diverse tastes and preferences and have high desire to share experiences with others.

Integrated with Nielsen’s other marketing tools, the Intercultural Affinity Segmentation model is designed to help marketers of consumer packaged goods (CPG) apply “total market metrics” across various cultures, Nielsen stated.

“This groundbreaking approach to cultural segmentation helps marketers understand the new American landscape, where a majority of the population is either multicultural or highly influenced by multicultural attitudes, products and trends,” said Aret Ratyosyan, Product Leader of North America Buy at Nielsen. “This tool will empower our clients –– CPG manufacturers, marketers and retailers –– to stay ahead of future trends by identifying what intercultural consumers are buying today in order to create effective marketing strategies that resonate with consumers who are highly influenced by multiple cultures.”