Responding to growth in the lone-

person household in Australia

Bianca Johnston

Kimberley Odgers

Lauren Martin

This case study focuses on the lone-person household social group. The lone-person household social group is characterised as individuals, either male or female,

who are single by choice. They are identified as people who prefer to live alone, and place value on fostering a career, travel, independence and freedom, over finding a partner or starting a family. It is a shifting of ideals,

moving away from the nuclear family in favour of being independent, self-reliant and single.

Source: ABS Household and Family Projections, Australia, 2006 to 2031 (cat. no. 3236.0)

The number of Australians living alone is going to have the most rapid increase of all household types in the next 25 years.

The consumer decision making process has aspects that can be affected by the changes in

the demographic composition of the household.

There are three parts to the consumer decision making model,

Input, Process and Output.

Input has two factors, Marketing and Sociocultural.

Marketers need to recognise the growth in the lone-person house hold and may need to reconsider their marketing approaches for some products and services to ensure that they are not only appealing to families and couples.

Sociocultural influences for the lone-person house hold are going to continue to be important in the decision making process, as if the consumer has any doubt or hesitation, this is where they may look to for guidance, such as family or social groups.

Need recognition is going to have less external factors in a lone-household. There will be no partner, or children to contribute or influence the needs that arise within the household.

Pre-purchase search and Evaluation of alternatives may not be affected by the demographic changes, as a purchase is already going to be made at these stages.

Output comprises of Post-Purchase Evaluation and Purchase Behaviour.

The purchase behaviour is not going to be affected, as no matter who has made the purchase, they are going to use it in one of the three purchase behaviour manners.

Post-Purchase evaluation is going to rely heavily on the individual, rather than the consensus of the family or couple.

This case study focuses on the rising number in lone person households, featuring Melissa and Susan.

Based on these large demographic changes, there has been a flow on effect on the demand of goods and services.

Goods in higher demand: Suitable housing for people living alone Individually portioned food products Security equipment, such as alarms Restaurants that allow for the ‘shared dining experience’ Services such as dry cleaners, dog walkers and food

delivery

Previously marketing has been based around the tradition family life cycle. The lone-person households are defying these stereotypes. This is affecting how marketers communicate with and market.

Melissa and Susan are in the ‘single by choice’ segment. This segment is not defined by age or income.

Many companies are making special appeal to singles by featuring singles in their marketing campaigns.

However it is not always necessary to exclusively target this particular segment. Some goods are marketed the same, regardless of the consumer’s relationship status or living situation. Advertising to singles should not always be based around the assumption they want to find a partner.

Reference groups are a point of comparison which influences attitudes and behaviours of consumers

Reference groups have been recognised by social scientists ‘…as a determinant of behaviour. The fact

that people act in accordance with a frame of reference produced by the groups to which they belong is a long-

accepted and sound premise (Bearden, Etzel 1982).

One of the most influential reference groups with the lone person social group is family. The attitudes,

behaviour and beliefs exhibited by ones family form a strong point for reference for an individual’s own

behaviour. One’s family sets the bar for many people, and have formed similar or identical behaviours and

values from a young age. Thus, family is an important normative reference group to be considered by

marketers in the decision making process.

By recognising that lone-household individuals see family as a point of reference for buying behaviours and attitudes, marketers can creating advertisements which demonstrate how a product is accepted, approved or even consumed by a certain reference group. A marketing

communications message that would appeal to individuals living in a lone-person household would be one that reflects the values held by this group. For example, words

such as ‘independent’ and ‘self-reliant’ are the types of words that this group would identify with. This, combined with an emotional appeal would be a persuasive way to send a

message by causing an emotional response in the message recipients. For example, the marketers of a frozen meal company could market their meals as being ‘wholesome’, ‘like a home cooked meal but in a third of the time’, ‘nutritious meal for those on the go’ and so on. Phrases such as these appeal to single people who need to take care of themselves, and plays on the need to look after one’s health. Using the ‘mother knows best’ approach makes lone-

household individuals feel like they must be looking after themselves if the product is ‘mum-approved’. This is because ‘consumers who buy a specific brand perceive themselves

as similar to others who consume that same brand’… (Wei, Yu 2012).