“Branding” is an important marketing concept.

Missouri State U. Student Lindsey Kolb takes that approach and applies it to the wide array of conservative beliefs.

As conservatives, we are asked over and over again about our stances on different issues. As much as all conservatives wish that we could all have the exact same belief system, we do not. There are different “brands” of conservatives as I like to say. Some focus more on economics than social issues, and others focus more on the past than the ever-coming future.

This can easily be seen by attending conservative events like CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference. Such events bring in speakers from all over the conservative spectrum to speak on different topics that are important to them. At CPAC 2013 earlier this year, I noticed five different groups of conservatives, as compared to the six that are usually discussed. Look at this list and see where you fall on the conservative spectrum:

1. The Millennial Conservative:   This brand of conservative is between the ages of 18 and 24. This is the group that usually carries the weight of the swing vote in most elections as people this age are usually just now figuring out what they believe and what party they associate themselves with. The already-identified conservatives at this age are typically in college, struggling to share the conservative message with their peers and overly-liberal college professors….

2. The Crunchy Conservative:   These conservatives could be labeled as the “group of conservatives who refuse to pick a side.” These are more than likely parents of families or evangelicals who don’t want to pick a side. They adhere to the Conservative lifestyle by having family and religious values, yet they don’t advocate for the Conservative/Republican message explicitly. …..

3. The Cultural Conservative:  Cultural conservatives are more worried about keeping the culture of America in it’s traditional sense. Cultural Conservatism describes the culture of the nation rather than just the social issues of the nation..

4. Fiscal Conservatives:   Many members of this brand group will be taken from the libertarian and constitutionalist camps as well. These two conservative sects are in the Fiscal Conservative group because they desire to reduce government spending at all costs, pay off the national debt quickly, and to shrink the size of government. Fiscal Conservatives will seek to get rid of government regulation and to strive for lower taxes. …

5. Social Conservative:   Social Conservatives are the most controversial members of any conservative brand. They stand firm in their moral ideology based on family values and religious traditions….