and lifestyles. 2 While demographics
might be able to tell you that your
congregation is filled with affluent
white couples in their forties, you can’t
rely on believing all wealthy white
couples in their forties think and act
the same way. For instance, wealthy
oil tycoons in Texas think and behave
quite differently from wealthy actors
in Hollywood. Or wealthy playboys in
Miami. Or wealthy estate owners in
Maine. While money might be a unifying
factor for these four groups, lumping
them all in the same category would
yield some interesting results. When
you don’t know your guest inside and
out, you risk faux pas when dealing
with them. In 2014, Apple committed
this type of psychographic faux pas
when they announced their newest
iPhone release. In an attempt to
create buzz and show appreciation to
their iTunes users, they automatically
gave every user U2’s newest album
release. For some users, that meant
it automatically downloaded to their
phone or their computer. It seemed
like a good idea. U2 is about as big as
a band can get—they’re internationally
famous and even revered. But some
users responded to the event with
outrage. A social media storm ensued,
with people complaining that their
devices were running out of space or
that their security had been violated.
Apple failed to consider the values,
attitudes, and interests of their iTunes
users.