Most People Lead “Spider Lives”, Says Henley Centre Report

It is becoming increasingly difficult to categorise people into groups according to their age, sex and social class as a growing proportion of the population today live “spider lives” in which they take on different roles and personalities.

According to a report published by the Henley Centre this weekend, a large proportion of the population regularly reinvent themselves depending on who they are with and what situation they are in to fit into the rapidly changing environments in which they exist.

Planning For Consumer Change is the result of a survey of attitudes of 2,000 people from 1986 to 1999 and is described as the “definitive guide to understanding UK consumers in all their diversity, richness and detail”. Confronted with the highest degree of pace and change in every aspect of life, companies and brands must adapt to constantly changing environments and customers, it says.

Flux must be taken into account in any marketing strategy as the central force in a growing number of people’s lives and particularly amongst young professionals. New products, which in the past would focus on a particular social group, will find the old boundaries no longer apply. The consumer, it says, is now in control of the markets and companies must wait for instructions.

The report covers all major trends and issues to be taken into account in today’s marketplace. The influence of the net and home computers and the new markets they have opened is discussed. It predicts how customers will live, work and relax in the future, providing a blueprint for marketeers for the next millennium.

Henley Centre: 0171 353 9961 … www.henleycentre.com