Are consumers what they consume? - Linking lifestyle segmentation to product attributes: an exploratory study of the Chinese mobile phone market

Product attributes influence consumer perceptions of the personal relevance of a product or service to their needs. In this paper using mobile charging attributes offered to consumers in the Chinese mobile phone market, we empirically test whether consumer preferences for product attributes are significantly linked to their lifestyle. Combining prior theory about product characteristics with studies on lifestyle segmentation, the authors show in a large-scale field study that consumers can be segmented into four lifestyle clusters according to their preferences for different mobile charging attributes. In addition, it is observed that the differential effect of certain mobile charging attributes on consumers in different clusters may be related to consumers' perceived functional or hedonic use of these attributes. Finally we discuss the implications of our findings for managers in product positioning using lifestyle segmentation approach.