Dunbar Lifestyle & Demographics

Money & Brains
Upscale and educated professionals and their families

The residents of Money & Brains seem to have it all: high incomes, advanced degrees and sophisticated tastes to match their credentials. Many of these Canadians are married couples with few children who live in older, fashionable homes on small, manicured lots in urban and suburban areas. With 37 percent holding university degrees, Money & Brains consumers exhibit cultured sensibilities in the marketplace. They tend to support the arts, buy lots of books, listen to classical music radio stations, travel abroad and subscribe to business, news and travel magazines. A politically active cluster, residents here rank high for working on community projects, serving as volunteers and writing letters to public officials.

Upscale $91,815
Older
Ethnic Presence: Low

Money & Brains is one of the top clusters for buying financial products. These savvy Canadians invest in virtually every kind of mutual fund available at rates two to three times greater than the general population. But these households are also home to a significant proportion of teenaged children, and surveys reveal the popularity of a number of athletic activities- -from skiing and windsurfing to squash and tennis- -among both grown-ups and their kids. The residents of Money & Brains like to cultivate both mind and body.

How they think
The residents of Money & Brains have cultivated comfortable and fulfilling lives, and their values reflect both their sense of security and their satisfaction with their current state. Having believed in Saving on Principle and Control of Destiny, these Canadians have taken responsibility for their own well-being, financial and otherwise, and have been rewarded. This is an engaged and curious cluster that seeks relationships of equality-not hierarchy-with young people (Equal Relationships with Youth) and strives to better understand itself and others (Introspection and Empathy). Money & Brains residents are looking not only for fulfillment but also fun as they age: they believe in the Importance of Spontaneity in Daily Life and want to cultivate and express their Personal Creativity. Money & Brains residents are more likely to crave experiences-at least, ones they can share-than physical objects. Attitudes

Attitudes
"I am comfortable with new technologies that are entering all aspects of life"
"I've taken steps so that I have sufficient funds for retirement"
"It should be tougher to obtain welfare and employment insurance"
"It is very important that I exercise my right to vote"
"Managing my time is one of my biggest challenges"

Suburban Gentry
Well-off middle-aged suburban families

The Suburban Gentry segment is a magnet for Canada's up-and-coming business class: a prosperous suburban world of dual-income couples who have university degrees and large families, typically with teenaged children. Given its high percentage of managers and self-employed professionals, there's a decided business bent to this cluster. Suburban Gentry residents rank near the top for owning laptop computers and fax machines as well as for taking business trips and reading newspaper business sections. These consumers are big spenders who like to golf, go out to eat and drive luxury SUVs. Fitness conscious, they're much more likely than average Canadians to engage in walking, own a home gym and declare, "regular exercise is an important part of my life."

Upscale $111,254
Middle-Aged
Ethnic Presence: Low

Suburban Gentry represents Canada's version of suburban wealth. Residents have turned their sprawling new homes, into gadget-filled castles, complete with VCR/DVDs, cordless phones, wireless computers and video game systems. With its large families- -40 percent have at least two kids- -you'd expect to see this cluster score high for outdoor sports activities. While they golf, sail and ski, many of these households seem to prefer exercising their minds indoors, reading a lot of financial magazines, watching news and educational channels and spending a healthy amount of time online to browse books, check out vacation spots and track investments. To reward themselves for their hard work, they're three times as likely as the general population to buy an expensive car to complement their vehicle-centric lives.

How they think
Suburban Gentry residents have been successful at responding to changes in the marketplace, as their affluence and business success suggest. They express strong Adaptability to Complexity in Life and Need for Personal Achievement. But their inner lives are not so flexible: they are strong on Aimlessness and Anomie, they are the second strongest cluster on the fearful and exclusionary trend Ethnic Intolerance, and they depend on their Religiosity to impose a framework of order on a chaotic world. It is no accident that these Canadians live in the suburbs. Certainly the lower cost of living appeals to their Utilitarian Consumerism and belief in Saving on Principle but they are also more likely to live in homogenous communities in the suburbs, where they feel safer and more at home. As they continue their Search for Roots and strive for Community Involvement, members of Suburban Gentry will try to make their mental and social lives as pleasing to them as their bodies and their bankbooks.

Attitudes
"I like activities which push my mental and physical limits"
"Women are not fairly represented in business and politics"
"Exercise is an important part of my life"
"The future looks good for young people"
"I try to keep abreast of changes in fashion"

Young Digerati
Young and well-off urban trendsetters

Young Digerati consists of the nation's tech-savvy singles and couples living in fashionable in-town neighbourhoods in a handful of big cities. Affluent, highly educated and ethnically mixed, Young Digerati communities are typically filled with tasteful, high-rise apartments and expensive condos with home offices, fitness clubs, clothing boutiques, casual restaurants and all types of bars - from juice to coffee to microbrew. With their deep pockets, Young Digerati residents enjoy shopping for the latest styles at Banana Republic, The Gap and Eddie Bauer. But they're not simply acquisitive materialists; many are socially-conscious consumers who support arts causes and donate money to environmental groups.

Upscale $92,228
Younger
Ethnic Presence: Low

In Young Digerati, residents have used their higher education-more than half hold university degrees-to pursue technology- and information-intensive lifestyles. With household incomes averaging $92,000, they're big purchasers of laptops and PDA's, DVD players and digital cameras. They go online daily to bank, shop, invest, conduct research and play games. These active residents typically are too busy to sit still for traditional media, but among their preferences are cable networks like A&E and CTV Newsnet, as magazine titles such as Report on Business and Toronto life. And though they're frequently on the move-travelling for business and pleasure-they still find time to read books and join bookstore loyalty clubs at high rates.

How they think
The values of Young Digerati residents are as cutting-edge as their laptops. These young Canadians see themselves as Belonging to the Global Village and show their recognition of the shrinking world in their Global Ecological Consciousness. While they are eager to succeed, they don't want to climb an outdated corporate hierarchy to do so; their Need for Autonomy and belief in their ability to chart their own course (Control of Destiny) suggest that they are confident in their ability to both achieve success and enjoy its fruits without being under the wing of large institutions like corporations or churches. In addition to seeking autonomy for themselves, members of Young Digerati believe others should have the same freedom from the dictates of tradition and convention: they believe strongly in the Equality of the Sexes and espouse a Flexible Definition of Family. These young Canadians shape and inhabit the neighborhoods others love to visit: diverse, easy-going and lively communities where there's always something happening. Young Digerati residents don't insist on Utilitarian Consumerism-they'll pay for some bells and whistles, especially when it comes to technology-but they're too savvy for superficial frills.

Attitudes
"I like activities which push my mental and physical limits"
"I am prepared to pay more for products that are a little bit different from those one sees all over"
"There should be more public funding for the Arts"
"I enjoy shopping for clothes"
"New Technologies are solving more problems than they are causing"

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