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Some startling findings have emerged from the MRA Spring Project on New Segmentation. The project set out to challenge traditional demographics and posit alternatives, using both psychographics and the further development of a previous MRA model based on mobility and dependence. By building a data set that closely mirrored a previous panel and running a series of new questions, data on Internet shopping behaviour and attitudes was interrogated. The findings were of both tactical and strategic significance, revealing interesting trends in internet shopping and demonstrating the value that life context based criteria can add to traditional demographics for profiling users.

 Selected Findings

• Internet experience may be a more valuable indicator of behaviour online. For example, the less experience the Internet user has, the higher their concerns around security
  
  
• Age and social grade, though often used in isolation, have lost much of their previous discriminating power, due to profound social change
  
  
• Mobility and dependence provides contextual understanding of motives behind media and content use. For example, interactive TV bodes well for parents with young children - who are therefore physically less mobile, than families without children
  
  
• The research findings are being disseminated at Members' Days in May and July in locations around the UK. The findings are exclusive to Members of the MRA.

Research to apply this model to physical channels and examine its applicability is being assessed at the moment.

Has customer cynicism towards technology increased as a reaction to the failure of latest technology to deliver on promises, and can this be used to commercial advantage? This is one of the questions being posed by the Summer MRA Project into Technology, Expectations and Cynicism. The research will explore notions of trust, expectation, disappointment and cynicism, seeking to identify barriers to uptake of technology to suggest how to overcome consumer cynicism or use it to commercial advantage.

The research will use both focus group and a quantitative survey of more than 1000 mobile users to explore consumers attitudes towards current and new technology, understand how these technologies fit into their lives and address issues around usability, ergonomics and expectations on ease of use. The research aims to understand differences in attitudes, examine barriers to and opportunities for take up, in order to predict future use of current technology and possible future applications and services

Members can still shape the project until early July when the research will begin in earnest and the findings will be presented at Members' Days held at various locations throughout the UK, commencing in September.

The Summer Quarterly Desk Review is due for issue at the end of July, the topics, elected by Members include looking at Streaming ì audio and visual, Location Based Opportunities (mobile) and the emerging theme section explores Broadband. This issue will be released on CD and by e-mail and in addition to the fully referenced version, each topic will be available as a separate word file and a .pdf for use on Members' intranet sites.

Teleconomy. Tel: 01524 382000 e-mail: enquiries@teleconomy.com

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