Creating Segmentation/LSM in a Survey

 

Overview

Overview

Segmentation is commonly used to classify respondents into predefined groups based on their responses. These groups can represent a wide range of characteristics, such as:

• Social status
• Ethnicity
• Economic status
• Marital status
• Income level
• Lifestyle Measure (LSM)
• Other custom classifications

Segmentation helps group respondents for more detailed analysis and enables survey logic such as quotas, filtering, branching, and reporting.

This guide demonstrates how to implement a basic segmentation (LSM) section in a SurveyToGo survey.

• A sample survey (.srv) is attached.

 

Step 1: Create the Recruitment Questions

1. Create the questions that will be used to determine the respondent's segment.
2. For this example, two recruitment questions are used:
   • R1 – A Multi-Selection question asking which electronic products are available in the respondent's household.
   • R2 – A Single Choice question asking whether the respondent's household has a private swimming pool.
   • These responses will be used to calculate the respondent's segmentation score.

Step 2: Creating the Segmentation variables

 

Create the following questions to store the segmentation results.

Question 1 – Segment

Create a Single Choice question that contains the individual segment values as its answer options.

Question 2 – Segment Group

Create a second Single Choice question that contains the broader segment groups.

Question 3 – Selected Segment

Create an Expression question that returns the selected segment (the answer from Question 4). This value can be used later in quotas, filtering, and survey logic.

Question 4 – Display Segment

Create an Empty question that displays the respondent's assigned segment to the interviewer.

Configure the first two segmentation questions to be Hidden From Surveyor so they are populated automatically without being displayed.

Step 3: Calculate the Segmentation Score

Create an Expression question immediately after the recruitment questions to calculate the respondent's score.

For example:

Question name: SegmentScore

Question text: Expression: Total Score

In the Answers tab of the Expression question, write the calculation that assigns points based on the respondent's answers.

The calculation should:

Sum the points earned from the recruitment questions.

Determine the appropriate segment based on the total score.

Automatically assign the corresponding values to the hidden segmentation questions.

The sample survey includes a complete example of this calculation.

 

Summary

When the survey is run, the segmentation is calculated automatically in the background. The interviewer only sees the final Empty question displaying the respondent's assigned segment.

You can use the resulting segmentation variables throughout the survey to:

• Apply Jumping Rules.
• Terminate or filter respondents based on their segment.
• Apply quotas.
• Control survey logic and branching.
• Export the segmentation values for reporting and analysis.