In market analysis, how can I determine the educational level, age and economic status of the audience I want to reach?

The answer to this question depends entirely on the types of product or service you are trying to sell or promote.

Your first step in determining this is researching the basic demographics for the type of product you are selling. For example, if you are a member of a marketing department at a symphony, you might look at the Princeton Center for Arts and Cultural Policy. You would note that educational level is highly...

The answer to this question depends entirely on the types of product or service you are trying to sell or promote.

Your first step in determining this is researching the basic demographics for the type of product you are selling. For example, if you are a member of a marketing department at a symphony, you might look at the Princeton Center for Arts and Cultural Policy. You would note that educational level is highly correlated with attendance, with 40 percent of people with some graduate school education having attended a classical music concert in the past year. Additional research will show that consumers of classical music tend to be relatively wealthy, with over half of season ticket holders having annual incomes over $150,000 and relatively elderly, with over half being over the age of 65. This means that if you are marketing or talking about classical music, your most probable audience is well-educated, elderly, and wealthy.

On the other hand, if you were marketing cigarettes, your typical audience would be far less educated. Only 5 percent of people with graduate degrees smoke, while over 40 percent of people with GEDs use cigarettes. In general, smoking also seems to correlate with lower income and is more prevalent among adults 18-64 years old than in people over 65. 

In all cases, you need to adapt your talks or marketing plans to the appropriate demographic.