The nine dimensions of Social Outlook

McNair Ingenuity's Social Outlook measurements can be used for an individual, a market segment, or even the total population. Any of these can be captured in one single image - a much more powerful and easy to use description of the subjects mindset, while being constructed on a more sophisticated model. The nine dimensions of Social Outlook used by McNair Ingenuity Research are comparable to values models or segmentations used by other research organisations in as much as all such models are intended to serve to assist marketers and advertisers in achieving a better insight on consumers. Social Outlook (or values models) replace or add to demographic models by providing an insight into how people see the world. Instead of, or in addition to targeting, say, an age group, Social Outlook allows marketers to target people who 'think young' or instead of targeting affluent people, target people who are more likely to spend indulgently on themselves or friends. To this extent, all such models are similar. Most such models then cluster the results of their segmentation model into personality or lifestyle types. These provide ready images of typologies, and handy labels. But that's where the similarity with McNair Ingenuity's Social Outlook questions end. At McNair Ingenuity we do not attempt to cluster the dimensions into typologies. Instead we report each one individually, providing a much richer range of combinations.

Each dimension is constructed from two questions, each with a five point scale, giving the dimension a total rating out of ten. While the Social Outlook chart has certain characteristics in juxtaposition against one another, it is possible to have high scores on both these dimensions, adding to the richness and complexity of the Social Outlook map in describing the human personality.