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Consumer Buying Trends { Demographics & buying patterns for the home } ® A CYGNUS BUSINESS MEDIA PUBLICATION SALES OFFICES NATIONAL SALES MANAGER MIDWEST Michael Mandozzi 3030 W. Salt Creek Lane Arlington Heights, IL 60005 Phone: 847-454-2715 Email: mike.mandozzi@cygnus.com J. Walker Smith EAST/SOUTHEAST Joanne Naylor 540 Lee Court Wyckoff, NJ 07481 Phone: 201/891-9170; Fax: 201/839-9161 E-mail: joanne.naylor@cygnus.com Joe May 297 Concord Road Marlborough, MA 01752 Phone: 800/547-7377 x2718 E-mail: joe.may@cygnus.com WEST/SOUTHWEST Kim Carroll 7355 19th Avenue NW Seattle, WA 98117 Phone: 206/781-0714; Fax: 206/473-0724 E-mail: kim.carroll@cygnus.com PRODUCT & LITERATURE SHOWCASE/CLASSIFIED ADS Nancy Campoli 558 Prospect Avenue River Vale, NJ 07675 Phone: 800/547-7377 x6127 E-mail: nancy.campoli@cygnus.com EDITORIAL OFFICES 3 Huntington Quadrangle, Suite 301N Melville, NY 11747 Janice Anne Costa, Editor Tel: 631/963-6233 E-mail: janice.costa@cygnus.com Anita Shaw, Managing Editor Tel: 631/963-6209 E-mail: anita.shaw@cygnus.com • While consumers may be Photo: Roger Turk, Northlight Photography CHICAGO — "Slimming down" – the notion that consumers are increasingly "living large and carrying little" is having a growing impact on the way homeowners are viewing the market for home improvements. That's the opinion of J. Walker Smith, a well known futurist and analyst on consumer trends who addressed attendees at the recent Fall Conference of The Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) in Chicago. Smith, executive chairman of the Chapel Hill, NC-based The Futures Company, said that while "slimming down" can be explained succinctly by the phrase "live large, carry little," the full story "is far too complicated for a simple slogan." "A slimming-down mindset is defining the aspirational framework with which consumers are approaching the marketplace," Smith told HIRI attendees. By way of further explanation, he referred to 2006, when consumers were "looking up" to what they could purchase and become. "Fast forward to 2013," he said, "and the idea is to 'look down' at what to avoid." During that shift in mindset, "some positive developments have impacted consumers," Smith noted. For example, the birth rate has stabilized after declining during the downturn, auto sales are at pre-recession highs, and the housing market is showing signifcant improvement, compared with the historic lows seen during the recent steep downturn. The downturn, however, took its toll on consumer attitudes, said Smith, pointing to research that shows 59% of consumers in the middle class are concerned about falling out of the middle class, while 88% defne success as being debt free. "Times are changing, and quickly," Smith said. "Research shows 59% of young people say they would rather have a low-paying job that they like rather than a high-paying job that they don't like. And a related trend is that of 'thresholdearners' – people who desire to earn just enough money to sustain a simple lifestyle." "This type of thinking is now on the table," Smith said. More recently, he added, dysfunctional government has emerged for the frst time as the number one thing that people worry about. "The mess in Washington is on people's minds," Smith observed. "The shutdown has reinforced in consumer minds why they need to bring this slimmingdown mindset with them into the future." Despite all of this, Smith noted, frugality is not an aspiration for the American consumer. "We like nice stuff," he said. "But we want to be able to get it without exposing ourselves to the kind of risks that we were oblivious to prior to the downturn." Translating the analysis to practical takeaways for home-improvement marketers, Smith said selling smaller projects, and selling them repeatedly, "will be the key to engaging with the new consumer." Photo: Anice Hoachlander 'Slimming-Down' Mindset Shaping Market, Futurist Asserts 'slimming down' on their remodeling projects, with smaller, more efciently designed spaces, they still want comfort features and amenities, as seen in this award-winning kitchen designed by Jonas Carnemark, CR, CKD and co-designer Michael Stehlik of Carnemark in Bethesda, MD. Kimberly Berndtson, Senior Editor Tel: 920/563-1722 E-mail: kim.berndtson@cygnus.com CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS 1233 Janesville Ave. Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 Phone: 631/845-2700; Fax: 631/845-2741 PUBLISHING HEADQUARTERS 3030 W. Salt Creek Lane, Suite 200 Arlington Heights, IL 60005 Eliot Sefrin, Publisher Emeritus E-mail: eliot.sefrin@cygnus.com Mark Taussig, Group Publisher E-mail: mark.taussig@cygnus.com • Smaller projects, like this spaceefcient bath designed by Richard P. Landon, CMKBD, of the Bellevue, WAbased Richard Landon Design, LLC, will be the key to engaging with the new consumer, according to futurist J. Walker Smith. December 2013 ForResidentialPros.com | 9 REPRINT SERVICES For reprints and licensing please contact Nick Iademarco at Wright's Media 877-652-5295 ext. 102 or niademarco@wrightsmedia.com. SUBSCRIPTIONS, BACK ISSUES 1233 Janesville Avenue Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 Tel: 920/563-1761; Fax: 920/563-1704 MAILING LIST RENTAL Elizabeth Jackson Tel: 847-492-1350 ext. 18 E-mail: ejackson@meritdirect.com Web site: www.ForResidentialPros.com