Marketing Strategies for Businesses to Engage in the Dating Industry
Growing Trend of Single-Person Households Prompting Marketing Opportunities
Single-person households now account for a significant portion of homes worldwide, with 30% of all UK households and a fifth of households globally falling into this category in 2023, as revealed by a survey for WARC's Marketer's Toolkit. However, only 6% of marketers have reportedly deemed this segment as strategically important.
This blind spot in brands' marketing strategies is likely to become more conspicuous as Euromonitor predicts a 48% increase in the global rate of people living solo by 2040, surpassing all other household types.
Several factors have contributed to the rise of single-person households. These include a shift in societal attitudes towards relationships, where individuals are choosing to delay marriage or less frequently engage in marriage and related traditional commitments. This is particularly acute among women, some of whom follow the extreme feminist 4B movement that rejects dating, marriage, sex, and childbirth entirely.
The aging population is also a contributing factor, with Scotland having the highest rate of people living alone at 37%. Similarly, data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the majority of the growth in the number of people living alone is due to those aged 65 and over. With an expected increase in global life expectancy from 73.6 years in 2022 to 78.1 years in 2050 (The Lancet), it's likely that this trend will persist.
For brands, the growing number of single-person households presents an opportunity. Aditya Kishore, insight director at WARC, noted the frustration among atomized consumers – those who live, eat, and shop solo – due to the "single-person penalty." This is the additional cost and inconvenience that single individuals face. Brands that can tailor products and services to cater to these needs could potentially access a new, valuable market segment.
Single-person households share similar needs despite varying reasons for living alone. They often prefer convenience-driven appliances and multifunctional products. Brands like Tesco, Arnold, Brownberry, Oroweat, and P&G have recognized this, launching products such as single-portion foods, smaller bread loaves, and smaller toilet paper rolls aimed at single-person households.
However, the momentum for services and products designed for single-person households seems to have waned. Peter McGraw, a professor of marketing and psychology at the University of Colorado Boulder, attributes this partially to the fact that the majority of company decision-makers are married with children, and may not fully understand the needs of single individuals.
Brands that adapt early to this market segment may benefit from an advantage, according to McGraw, who draws parallels between this trend and the recognition of the LGBTQ community by businesses over the past two decades.
Image by Toa Heftiba from Unsplash
- With the rise of single-person households, media outlets and marketing organizations might focus more on news and advertising catering to this demographic.
- Businesses in the home-and-garden sector could explore creating products that cater to the convenience-driven preferences of single-person households.
- Educational institutions might provide resources tailored to the lifestyle of single individuals, such as courses on cooking small portions or self-care workshops.
- Entertainment Industry could create shows, movies, or games that resonate with the unique experiences of single-person households.
- Furthermore, travel companies could design packages or services appealing to the preferences of solo travelers or considering the needs of homebound individuals, such as online experiences or personalized home-delivery services.
