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Media consumption: Using social attitudes to segment society – a typology of a South African sample

Abstract In this, the first of a two-article series, an attitudinal typology was developed for use in a subsequent study of media consumption and psychographic variables. The current study used multivariate statistics to identify types of individuals who are similar to one another, across multiple measures of attitudes towards social issues. Agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis of data from 11 533 South Africans, aged 16 years and older, revealed six distinct types based on the component ‘attitudinal variables’. The types were labelled Contemporaries, Conventionals, Unconcerneds, Self-involveds, Old-schoolers and Confidents. Preliminary analysis of available demographic variables revealed significant differences for age, population group, gender, work status, home language, SAARF Lifestages and SAARF Universal Living Standard Measure (SU-LSM®) for the six types. The typology illustrates the possibility of empirical identification of distinct attitudinal types of a South African sample. Methodological limitations and recommendations for further research are discussed.