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Consumer Buying Trends { Demographics & buying patterns for the home } October 2014 ForResidentialPros.com | 9 SALES OFFICES EAST/SOUTHEAST Joanne Naylor 540 Lee Court Wyckoff, NJ 07481 Phone: 201/891-9170; Fax: 201/839-9161 Email: joanne.naylor@cygnus.com WEST/SOUTHWEST Reed Fry Phone: 949/223-1088; Fax: 949/223-1088 Email: reed@fry-comm.com MIDWEST Paul DeGrandis 724 12th St. Wilmette, IL 60091 Phone: 847/920-9513 Email: Paul@solabrands.com DIGITAL PRODUCTION MANAGER Tim Steingraber Phone: 773/858-4256 Email: Tim@solabrands.com PRODUCT & LITERATURE SHOWCASE/CLASSIFIED ADS Nancy Campoli 558 Prospect Avenue River Vale, NJ 07675 Phone: 800/547-7377 x6127 Email: nancy.campoli@cygnus.com EDITORIAL OFFICES 3 Huntington Quadrangle, Suite 301N Melville, NY 11747 Janice Anne Costa, Editor Phone: 631/963-6233 Email: janice.costa@kitchenbathdesign.com Anita Shaw, Managing Editor Phone: 631/963-6209 Email: anita.shaw@kitchenbathdesign.com CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS Sola Group Inc. 724 12th St. Wilmette, IL 60091 Phone: 847/920-9513 PUBLISHING HEADQUARTERS 3030 W. Salt Creek Lane, Suite 300 Arlington Heights, IL 60005 Eliot Sefrin, Publisher Emeritus Email: eliot.sefrin@cygnus.com Paul DeGrandis, President Email: Paul@solabrands.com Marie Snow, Administrator Email: Marie@solabrands.com 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 724 12th St. Wilmette, IL 60091 Phone: 847/920-9513 MAILING LIST RENTAL Elizabeth Jackson Tel: 847-492-1350 ext. 18 Email: ejackson@meritdirect.com Web site: www.ForResidentialPros.com ® 'Modern Family' Seen Reshaping Market, Product Messaging New York — The modern family is rapidly evolving as a re- fection of changing gender roles and social norms, yet many brands and marketing initiatives are failing to portray the "new reality" of household compositions – or speaking to their needs. That's the key conclusion of a major consumer trend re- port issued last month by JWTIntelligence, a New York-based research and marketing communications frm. According to JWT, the broad, traditional notion of the nu- clear "family" is evolving rapidly into many variations, and that shifting dynamic has major implications for marketers, includ- ing kitchen/bath product manufacturers and design frms. "The traditional nuclear family – a husband and wife, plus kids – is no longer the norm," the JWT report fnds. "Today's parents may not be married; often just one parent heads the household, while more couples are choosing not to become parents. At the same time, gay couples are embracing these traditional milestones as attitudes and laws change. And, as people live longer, more are starting afresh in later decades, and households are expanding to include multiple generations. "On the other end of the spectrum, more people are liv- ing in households of one, forming families out of friends or even treating pets as family. The emergent diversity in family life includes partnerships without marriage, multi-genera- tional families, 'silver' (aging) families, parenting without co-residence and various forms of 'blended,' 'reconstituted' and 'chosen' family." As JWT notes, these families and ways of living have long existed. What's new, however, is that they are growing more common and are likely to increasingly impact kitchen/bath design, consumer purchasing patterns and the way products and design services are marketed. In fact, the marketing frm notes, only 20% of U.S. house- holds ft the conventional defnition of the nuclear family, down from 40% in 1970. Unmarried parents represent the most common variant on tradition, as more people delay or forego marriage. In the U.S., single parents have more than tripled as a share of households since 1960. People are also remixing tradition and improvising family arrangements. For instance, it's becoming more common for couples to split up but remain in their home, jointly raising their kids while forming other romantic relationships. As more people divert from life's traditional milestones, fewer are also choosing to have children. An array of factors – including the growing cost of child care, women's rise in the workforce, the trend toward extending careers while delay- ing marriage and children, and urbanization – are driving this shift in cultural norms. Gay marriage is also becoming increasingly popular as public acceptance spreads and laws change. Pets are increasingly becoming full-blown members of the family, with owners treating animals much like humans. "The nuclear family has become both more complicated and more fexible, taking on new forms to suit new mindsets, JWT observes, noting that fathers are taking on many more domestic duties, while more women are becoming the primary breadwinner and society is moving toward "a more nuanced concept of gender that questions some stereotypes and revises old assumptions. "Women are less likely to be in charge of household tasks and child care," JWT points out. "Dads are now co-parents. We're moving away from the days when men provided for the family fnancially and women took care of most other needs. Couples are rethinking the way household and child care duties are apportioned. Conventional ideas about male and female domains, activities, behaviors and styles are evolving. Millennials are leading the way, less confned to traditional gender roles and more willing to break long-standing norms, and Gen Z is poised to hold the least rigidly defned view of gender as they reach adulthood." JWT adds: "Just as we saw a feminization of the workplace in the past few decades, with more emphasis on such skills as empathy and listening, we are seeing the opposite at home – a 'masculinization' of domestic tasks and routines." According to JWT, although many brands aren't yet por- traying the reality of today's family, or speaking to its changing needs, a growing number of marketers have broadened their defnition of what a family means and have incorporated new types of images into their messaging, recognizing and afrm- ing these consumers. "At a time when married couples may not be planning on kids, parents could be same-sex or a dad might be the primary caregiver, brands must think carefully about the language and imagery they use and the way they target products and services," the company said. "Marketers should acknowledge every type of family. Brands should not only update their assumptions about their consumers, they should seek to better refect the new reality of nuclear families. Don't hesitate to take a stance: Consumers expect brands to help drive social change, and today's con- sumer is increasingly open-minded about new forms of family." Changes in the nuclear family require a rethinking of brand positioning and marketing initiatives, according to a new report published by JWTIntelligence. Photo © iStockphoto/Thinkstock Photo © DigitalVision/Thinkstock