2023A Release Highlights

In early May, AGS will release our first update of the year: 2023A. As we prepare for the release, we wanted to share about major updates to one database, and the addition of a database that has been requested by our clients.

Behaviors and Attitudes (BAT) has been a long-time customer favorite database, taking key behavioral groupings and assigning a label which describes the behavior. The Behavior & Attitudes database is a collection of modeled variables that are intended to complement and simplify the main Consumer Behavior MRI database by focusing on those key attitudes and behavioral characteristics that drive consumer behavior and lifestyles, in general. Currently, there are just over 420 variables. With the 2023A update, there will be about 750 variables. These will be greatly expanded in the following categories:

• New Children’s Products section
• New financial behavior variables including personal lines of credit, second property ownership, floater insurance policies, and renters insurance
• Additional leisure activities
• New Lifestyle categories like Creationist, Evolutionist, Faith Centered, Charity Donator, Fundraisers
• New media variables greatly expanded social media attitudes and use, including Reddit Readers, Podcasters, Social Media Avoiders, and Meme Sharers
• Additional pet variables

Following client requests, we are pleased to announce a new database, Religious Affiliation. This small database fills an important gap in the AGS core demographics series. Religious affiliation has not been addressed by the census bureau in many decades, and most sources are based on consumer panel data or political polling and have minimal geographic content. Others have detailed data at the county or state levels but lack small area estimates.

Religious affiliation can have significant impacts on consumer spending and behavior. For some retail sectors, it can have a critical impact on product mix, shopping style, and even staffing.

The database consists of the following attributes of the total population:

• Non-Affiliated
• Affiliated
  • Christian
    • Catholic
    • Orthodox
    • Mainline Protestant
    • 7^th Day Adventist
    • Amish and Mennonite
    • Latter Day Saints (Mormon)
    • Jehovah’s Witness
    • Non-Denominational
  • Non-Christian
    • Buddhist
    • Islamic
    • Hindu
    • Jewish
    • Other Religion

As a sample, we mapped the Muslim population in Minneapolis. As you can see on the map, there are very concentrated areas of the metropolitan area where Muslim households reside. Minnesota is home to a large number of refugees, with many Somali refugees living in Minneapolis, which does increase the number of practicing Muslims in the city.