Although it may sound strange, developing entire fictional characters with
distinct behavior patterns, values, pain points, budgets, and even skill levels can prove a significant help in segmenting your market and targeting the types
of visitors, leads, and customers that will best increase your website's economic output.
For example, longitudinal prospective studies
of children
of mothers with schizophrenia have consistently identified a subgroup who present a stable
pattern of aggressive and / or antisocial
behavior from a young age, 36,37 and studies
of children with depression identify a subgroup with conduct disorder.38 Among persons who develop a major mental disorder, substance abuse in childhood or adolescence is more strongly associated with violent crime in adulthood than substance abuse in adulthood, 39 and individuals who will develop a major mental disorder may be more sensitive to the effects
of alcohol than others.40 These findings suggest that symptoms (eg, substance abuse) that we and others are labeling as
distinct disorders, may in fact be a part
of or at least related to the primary disorder.