Final answer:
The VALS system serves as a psychographic measure of consumers, distinguishing them based on psychological attributes, unlike the family life cycle that focuses on families' changing needs over time.
Step-by-step explanation:
The VALS system is a psychographic measure of consumers. Psychographic segmentation is a method used by marketers to categorize consumers based on their lifestyle, personality traits, values, opinions, and interests.
Unlike the family life cycle used by sociologists and consumer researchers to understand the changing needs of families over time, VALS focuses on psychological attributes that connect consumer choices to underlying personality traits and values. The VALS framework helps marketers design and implement more targeted and effective marketing strategies by predicting consumer behavior based on their psychographic profile.