Reduced

Advertisers and marketers know how to reduce their work. They define consumers into segments of people belonging, say, to age groups such as 16-35 years or 12-24 years, with specific behaviours and disposable incomes to allow them certain buying choices.

Consumers are no longer treated as human beings with individual likes, dislikes, habits and preferences. They are reduced to sets of decision-makers fitting demographic and/or psychographic descriptions that are input into advertising and marketing campaigns.

Entire populations of countries are reduced to such descriptions of stereotypes that have a common thread that binds them. A thread that finally forms the basis of a marketing-communication strategy.

The question is, of course, if masses of people with diverse needs, wants and behaviours can identify with, or conform to, such reduced descriptions.