Upon completion of the online VALS survey, it was determined I am an Experiencer/Innovator as my primary motivation and resources types respectively. The descriptions of Experiencer is pretty fitting to how I see myself and I dare say, how other people see me as well. Despite that, I’d equate this system to a horoscope prediction on steroids. Sure, it uses questions and algorithms to determine who fits into which category, but after reading the description of each of the types, I believe I could fit into many of the aspects of each type. I understand that the point is to put people into neat boxes by which type they are most fit with in order to gain insightful consumer information. I am therefore skeptical because the questions asked did not lead to an accurate portrayal of my consumption and purchasing habits, which is the main purpose, although I do in fact enjoy having “cool” stuff and being “risky”, I usually can’t afford either. The highly flattering Innovator description makes me wish I fit into more, but my resources are far from abundant. I suppose given them, and not having to worry about being broke and affording things like food, I’d love to get at some “niche products and services” and cultivate my tastes. I suppose the non-conformist in me is being far too critical of this simple survey. If it is so widely used, it must produce successful results. Overall, I find it fairly discouraging that people can be categorized and manipulated into buying certain goods or services so easily as I’d like to think we are more complex beings. I think this sort of idea has the potential to operate to serve more than as a means of improving advertising companies’ profit margins as well.
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