Population represents the maximum cultural reach—the maximum number of people who understand and connect with the idea, whether actively or passively.
Population measures the breadth of cultural relevance, capturing the maximum number of people who connect with the shared meanings around a trend.
This provides businesses with a metric to align strategies with cultural engagement rather than just transactional metrics.
This metric shows how deeply a trend resonates culturally, identifying both active participants who shape discussions and passive consumers influenced by its broader penetration.
To be clear: population does not reflect market data like sales or adoption rates. Instead, it offers a complementary perspective, revealing the maximum cultural reach of an idea rather than its commercial performance.
- Active Participants: These are the creators and drivers of conversations, often shaping how a trend is defined.
- Passive Participants: These individuals may not directly participate but are influenced by the cultural penetration of the trend (they see it in their feed, they hear about it from friends, they absorb it, but they don’t actively engage in it).
Population is also a factor of the number of adults between the age of 18 and 74 in a region.
For example, a cleaning product marketed as "natural" may have a population of 30 million people in the U.S. who understand and resonate with the idea of "natural cleaning," regardless of whether they actively purchase or discuss such products. They simply understand what people look for when they do look for natural cleaning, why those people look for natural cleaning, and what benefits and pain points are likely associated with natural cleaning.