Welcome to VALS™

VALS™ is a marketing and consulting tool that helps businesses worldwide develop and execute more
effective strategies. The system identifies current and future opportunities by segmenting the consumer
marketplace on the basis of the personality traits that drive consumer behavior. VALS applies in all phases
of the marketing process, from new-product development and entry-stage targeting to communications
strategy and advertising.

The basic tenet of VALS is that people express their personalities through their behaviors. VALS specifically
defines consumer segments on the basis of those personality traits that affect behavior in the marketplace.
Rather than looking at what people do and segregating people with like activities, VALS uses psychology to
segment people according to their distinct personality traits. The personality traits are the motivation—the
cause. Buying behavior becomes the effect—the observable, external behavior prompted by an internal
driver.

Explore our Web site: See what VALS has done for businesses in the past, read about what
differentiates the VALS types, purchase our special VALS handbook designed for the academic
community, or take the survey to find out your VALS type!

About VALS™
VALS reflects a real-world pattern that explains the relationship between personality traits and consumer
behavior. VALS uses psychology to analyze the dynamics underlying consumer preferences and choices.
VALS not only distinguishes differences in motivation, it also captures the psychological and material
constraints on consumer behavior.

VALS is based on current personality research into specific components of social behavior. VALS asserts
that people express their personalities through their behaviors. People with different personalities engage in
different behaviors or exhibit similar behaviors for different reasons.

History
The original VALS system was built by consumer futurist Arnold Mitchell. Mitchell created VALS to explain
changing U.S. values and lifestyles in the 1970s. VALS was formally inaugurated as an SRI International
product in 1978 and was cited by Advertising Age as "one of the ten top market research breakthroughs of
the 1980s."

In 1989, VALS was redefined to maximize its ability to predict consumer behavior. A team of experts from
SRI International, Stanford University, and the University of California, Berkeley, determined that consumers
should be segmented on the basis of enduring personality traits rather than social values that change over
time.

By using psychology to analyze and predict consumer preferences and choices, the current VALS system
creates an explicit link between personality traits and purchase behavior. The current VALS system is
described in depth in The VALS Segments.

• Welcome to VALS™ • VALS™ Survey

• The VALS™ Types • Survey Help / VALS™ FAQ
• More about VALS™ • VALS™ Brochures
• GeoVALS™ • Publications

VALS™ Applications

Commercialization
 VALS™ facilitates successful product launches and helps avoid costly mistakes. Understanding the needs of different
consumer groups guides new product and services development.

• Ideation Brainstorm new product ideas, business models, and future scenarios.
• Entry-Stage Targeting Identify if a market exists for a product or service, then size the market.
• Concept Testing Validate the potential of new ideas among people most likely to buy.
• Focus Groups Recruit focus groups based on people with like motivations to capture clearer insight.
• Features and Benefits Design features and benefits to appeal to innovators and early adopters.
• Business Partnerships Evaluate which business partners will prove to be the best match.
• Distribution Channel Select the most appropriate distribution channels or retail outlets.
Representative Commercialization Projects >>

Positioning
VALS identifies which market opportunities are strongest. Relating features and benefits to distinct segment needs clarifies
strategies for targeting and expansion.

• Competitive Analysis Locate core customers and competitors.

• Brand Differentiation Understand the motivation behind a purchase decision to ascertain key points of
differentiation among brands.
• Customer Retention Evaluate the relative opportunity between current and potential customers and design
effective retention strategies for core customers.
• Proprietary Research Include the VALS survey in proprietary research studies to magnify learning.
• Bridge Data Sets Create a bridge to other research studies that have included VALS.
• Product Life Cycle Track and manage brand profitability by including VALS in ongoing studies.
Representative Positioning Projects >>

Communications
VALS shows you how to craft more effective messaging campaigns. Understanding what motivates consumers illuminates how
to speak to them in ways that will initiate action.

• Selling Proposition Define more compelling selling propositions linked to enduring motivations.
• Brand Personality Nurture an attractive brand personality by understanding consumer preferences.
• Creative Development Use language and images that resonate with each segment.
• Message Placement Evaluate opportunities for message placement via insight into segment lifestyles.
• Media Preferences Select media with larger audiences of the desired target.
Representative Communications Projects >>
VALS
Values and
Lifestyles: the
categorisation
of people
according to
their way of
living, using
groupings
such as
Belongers,
Achievers,
Emulators, I-
am-me,
Experiential,
Socially
conscious,
Survivors,
Sustainers
and
Integrators ...
Full article>>>

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Values and Lifestyles (VALS) Research - Definition of Values and Lifestyles (VALS) Research ...
Full article>>>

VALS:
abbrev. Values and Lifestyle System. A psychographic approach in which consumers are divided
into four broad groups of individuals-the need-driven, the inner-directed, the outer-directed, and
theintegrated groups.
Full article>>>

VALS (values and lifestyles) An acronym standing for values and life styles. VALS is
apsychographic segmentation approach developed at Stanford Research Institute International.
Thisdata is useful to public and private sector.
Full article>>>

VALS
out sizes
The sizes that are either very large or very small and, if offered at all, are offered in very limited
depth because of the thin market demand for them. Some stores specialize in fringe sizes or out
sizes-e.g.
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VALS abbrev. Values and Lifestyle System. Value Added Value Added Tax Value
Analysis therating by a buying organisation of slightly different product offerings for the same task
on a scale to select the most appropriate.
Full article>>>