What are the marketing implications of an unmarried America?
Posted by Joe Cannon
How times have changed. This article starts with the results of a 1957 survey of Americans that showed 80% believed that people who preferred the single life were “sick,” “immoral,” or “neurotic.” In 1960, 13.1% of U.S. households were “one-person” — today that number has more than doubled to 27.6%. In some big cities, the number is over 40%. You can read more about this trend and its implications for realtors, cruise ship operators, and home improvement retailer Lowe’s in “Solo nation: American consumers stay single” (CNN Money/Fortune, January 25, 2012) or in sociology professor Eric Klinenberg is new book, Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone. This article might give you some ideas when discussing demographic trends. A good question for students might be to ask how companies like Comcast, Starbucks, a restaurant, or a real estate developer might adapt its product to appeal to this consumer. I have also posted this at Learn the 4 Ps.





