Red and Blue Customer Model V2
A couple of weeks ago, I published a simple model for understanding American liberal and conservative customers. It’s based on the work of social anthropologist Mary Douglas and her categorizations of different social groups, which she referred to as Group-Grid. The feedback has been great.
I recognize that the customer model - like many aspects of the work here - is a draft that will evolve. The objective is to develop arguments for how conservative and liberal customers think and then test the ideas in market for validation and feedback.
In the spirit of evolving the work, there is one minor update I am making to the customer model from the previous article. For your reference, this was the original model:
Based on Mary Douglas’ work, this model states that American customers as a social group have a foundation in Individualism - the notion that anyone can achieve success if they try hard enough. It’s at the core of the American Dream.
Liberal customers then apply attributes from the Egalitarian group to moderate Individualism. This includes, for example, promoting shared social values where there is a lack of equality. Conservative customers apply attributes of the Positional group to moderate Individualist attributes. This includes promoting structure and hierarchy where there is a lack of leadership.
One thing that got missed in this model is that Individualist attributes can vary in strength, similar to the Egalitarian and Positional attributes. In other words, some customers will be more Individualist than others no matter where they are on the spectrum for Egalitarian and Positional attributes.
It’s a minor update but an important one that acknowledges that not all customers will have the same state of Individualism. So the model is updated here (I have also added the summary attributes of the Individualist group):
This is a very simple model by design because it serves business, not politics. It won’t explain every individual or election, but it will help define two groups as markets for your products. Many detailed attributes of each group follow from this core model.
Here are some of the new topics I’m working on that will appear in your inbox over the coming weeks and months:
A framework for evaluating business opportunities using customer worldview
Worldview markets in charts
Specific attributes to apply to red and blue customer markets
Red and blue digital experiences
Reconciling red and blue customers with political definitions of moderates and independents
The homes red and blue customers buy and what they park in front of them
Case studies of brands that focus on one or both worldviews
Feel free to suggest a topic by replying to this post.