Vals Survey

1. After taking the VALS survey, I’ve learned the primary VALS segment that I match is ‘Experiencer’, which represents my dominant approach to life. This means I am motivated by self-expression. According to the site, experiencers quickly become enthusiastic about new possibilities but are equally quick to cool (Vals Survey). Experiencers tend to be young, enthusiastic, and impulsive consumers (Vals Survey). Additionally, this dimension seeks variety and excitement, savoring the new, the offbeat, and the risky (Vals Survey). An experiencer’s energy finds an outlet in exercise, sports, outdoor recreation, and social activities (Vals Survey). Experiencers are also said to be avid consumers and spend a comparatively high proportion of their income on fashion, entertainment, and socializing (Vals Survey). Their purchases reflect the emphasis they place on looking good and having "cool" stuff. I could not agree with this more. I tend to live life as if tomorrow would be my last day, so I prefer to spend my money on things that make me happy and keep me young. I was somewhat surprised to see that my secondary type is ‘Achiever’ rather than ‘Thinker’, because I constantly feel that I am mature, satisfied, and comfortable. I always value order, knowledge, and responsibility in my life. I am very well-educated and actively seek out information in the decision-making process. I am constantly well-informed about world and national events, and am alert to opportunities to broaden my knowledge. To summarize, I am either a very diverse type of person, or I know less about myself than I thought.
2. The various VALS types that one could be categorized under are innovators, thinkers, achievers, experiencers, believers, strivers, makers and survivors. Some are definitely easier to manage than others. I would say that innovators, achievers and experiencers are the most difficult to manage. The easiest to manage are probably the thinkers, believers, strivers, makers and survivors. Innovators would involve a difficult lifestyle simply because they represent all three primary motivations in varying degrees. Achievers must balance career and family, which is difficult for a lot of people to do. As stated online, achievers are often interested in a variety of time-saving devices because of their busy lives. Experiencers are involved in a complicated life that would be tough to manage, because it requires a lot of money, a lot of risk taking, and being kept up-to-date on the latest styles and trends. This sounds like a very hectic lifestyle.
3. Since my VALS type is ‘experiencer’, one managerial conclusion that I can draw from this is that, when I become a manger one day, I will focus more on innovation and the ‘now’ of things rather than the past. Since an experiencer involves high resources and high innovation, I will be managing a company with great future prospects and hope for a lot of growth- whether it is through mergers, acquisitions, or expansion to foreign countries. This type of manager is also known as a ‘growth manager’. Growth managers tend to invest in the stocks of companies with rapidly growing sales and earnings (Fin Pipe). They believe that the stock price of this type of company will increase quickly as well, reflecting the strong growth of these companies (Fin Pipe). This always involves risk, which is a common characteristic of an experiencer.