Socio Economic Segmentation - GWI USA
The Socio Economic Segmentation assigns GWI USA respondents to one of five groups using a range of questions across the lifestyle and professional life & finances sections.
How the segmentation works
In order to determine their socio-economic group, we have a system whereby respondents receive points based on their answers to a number of questions relating to their lifestyles, professional lives and personal circumstances.
Once these points have been allocated to all respondents, that market is divided into five quintiles – with the 1st quintile containing those of the highest socio economic group and the 5th quintile comprising those at the other end of the spectrum.
For questions relating to income or wealth where we offer a “prefer not to say” option, those who selected it were awarded a neutral score designed not to up- or down-weight their overall ranking. Only a small minority of respondents select this option, however, and analysis suggests that they come from a range of financial backgrounds.
There are a total of 140 points available for each respondent, these scores are then divided into five groups, and become the five social grade quintiles.
The point values for all questions included in the segmentation are detailed overleaf:
Income One score, max 19 pts | Car Ownership One score, max 15 pts |
Top 33% - 19 Mid 33% - 10 Bottom 33% - 2 Prefer not to say - 3 | 3+ cars in household - 15 2 cars in household - 10 1 car in household - 5 0 cars in household - 1 |
Vacations (Domestic) One score, max 10 pts | Long-Haul Vacations (Abroad) One score, max 15 pts |
At least once a month - 10 Once every 2 or 3 months - 8 Once every 6 months - 6 Once a year - 4 Less often - 2 I don't do this - 1 | At least once a month - 15 Once every 2 or 3 months - 12 Once every 6 months - 8 Once a year - 6 Less often - 4 I don't do this - 1 |
Educational Achievement One score, max 15 pts | Work Seniority One score, max 8 pts |
Post-graduate - 15 University - 11 Trade / Technical School - 5 Graduated high school - 3 Did not graduate high school - 1 | Executive Management - 8 Senior Management - 6 Management - 4 Project Manager - 3 Supervisor / Junior Manager - 2 Junior Team Member - 1 Entry Level Position - 1 |
Device Ownership One score, max 10 pts | Savings and Investments One Score, max 17 points |
7+ Devices owned - 10 5-6 Devices owned - 8 3-4 Devices owned - 4 1-2 Devices owned - 2
| Top 33% - 17 Mid 33% - 10 Bottom 33% - 2 Don’t Know/Prefer not to say - 5 None - 1 |
Property Ownership One score, max 7 pts | Second Home Ownership One score, max 12 pts |
Yes - 7 No - 1 | Yes - 12 No - 1 |
Working Status One score, max 15 pts |
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Executive Management - 15 Senior Management - 11 Management - 9 Project Manager - 7 Supervisor / Junior Manager - 6 Professional (ex. Accountant) - 5 Office Worker - 4 Service / Support Worker - 4 Skilled Manual Worker - 4 | Semi Skilled Worker - 3 Other - 4 Unemployed - 1 Retired - 2 Student - 2 Stay-at-Home Parent - 3 Serving in military - 5 Student - 3 Other - 2 |