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In the home decorating market… Outdoors is the 'new' indoors
Stevens, PA March 29, 2005 - Driven by a desire to enhance their outdoor living experiences, consumers today are redefining the traditional gardening business into a much more expansive outdoor living market, according to a new study from Unity Marketing (www.unitymarketingonline.com).
"Home has been an obsession for consumers for the past twenty years. But after repeatedly decorating, redecorating and remodeling the inside of their homes, consumers today are powered by a new energy to connect with the outside world," says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author of Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses - as well as the Classes (Dearborn Trade Publishing, 2005).
"One way consumers express their need to connect is by focusing on the outdoor living spaces of the home. The outdoors is the new home decorating frontier and a place that savvy home marketers and retailers should explore for future growth," Danziger comments.
While nearly three-fourths of the total outdoor living market of $65.8 billion in 2004 was attributed to gardening-related expenditures (e.g., plants, gardening tools and gardening services), consumers spent $15.7 billion last year on products that enhance their outdoor living experience, such as furniture, decorative accents for garden, porch and patio, statuary, grills, and water features like ponds and fountains.
"Today the outdoor living market has expanded to encompass far more than just gardening, though gardening remains an important aspect of outdoor living," explains Danziger. "Outdoor living is a lifestyle, not just a hobby, and savvy marketers that embrace this new lifestyle trend will get ahead of the dramatic growth curve that is coming to this market."
Outdoor living market projected to reach nearly $90 billion by 2010
Based upon a survey of 1,000 U.S. homeowners conducted in the first quarter 2005, Unity Marketing predicts that the consumer market for outdoor living goods and services have only begun to blossom, with the period from 2005 to 2010 representing a particularly strong period for industry growth.
"The total outdoor living consumer market for both goods and services could reach $89.2 billion in 2010 following a five year period of strong growth, depending upon whether residential building activity continues at its present pace," Danziger says.
Heady growth predicted for outdoor living in 2005
Fully 40 percent of home owners have plans to invest in a major outdoor living project this year, according to Unity's survey. With their ambitious outdoor living plans, these consumers are expected to spend at least twice as much as the typical consumer on outdoor living purchases this year.
"The very consumers who were the biggest spenders on outdoor living last year are also expected to spend more this year on outdoor purchases. This market offers exponential growth potential with the highest spending consumers spending even more year upon year. The future of the outdoor living consumer market is truly impressive," Danziger says.
About the insights contained in the Outdoor Living Market, 2005
The consumer insights study, Outdoor Living Market, 2005: Understanding and Predicting Consumers' Passion for the Outdoor Living Lifestyle, provides details of a survey among 1,000 home owners with incomes of $25,000 and above. The report reveals purchase behavior in four major categories:
- Plant Materials - Overall purchase incidence, what products they buy, how much they spend, where the shop, why they buy and brand awareness and preferences.
- Garden Tools, Equipment, Supplies - Overall purchase incidence, what products they buy, how much they spend, where the shop, why they buy and brand awareness and preferences.
- Outdoor Living Products, such as barbecue grills, lights, fireplaces, furniture, outdoor decorative accents, ponds, pools, etc - Overall purchase incidence, what products they buy, how much they spend, where the shop, why they buy and brand awareness and preferences.
- Outdoor Living Services - Overall purchase incidence, what services they buy, how much they spend and why they buy.
In addition to consumers' purchase behavior, their attitudes and motivations in outdoor living purchases are also explored, including a psychographic analysis of four distinct personalities that participate in the outdoor living market.
To reserve a copy of the Outdoor Living Market, 2005 at the discounted pre-publication price, visit http://www.unitymarketingonline.com/reports2/outdoor_living/ol_research.html
About Pam Danziger and Unity Marketing
Pamela N. Danziger is a nationally recognized expert in consumer insights for luxury marketers, whether they sell luxuries to the masses or the 'classes.' She is president of Unity Marketing, a marketing consulting firm she founded in 1992 to unite marketers with their target markets through consumer insights. She taps consumer psychology to advise clients such as Lenox, Cartier, Herend, Crystal Cruises, Spring Air, Sears, The World Gold Council, The Conference Board and American Express.
Her latest book, Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses - as well as the Classes, (Dearborn Trade Publishing, $27, hardcover) was published in January 2005. She also authored Why People Buy Things They Don't Need: Understanding and Predicting Consumer Behavior (Chicago: Dearborn Trade Publishing, 2004).
She has appeared on CNN's In the Money, CNN International, NBC's Today Show, CNBC, CBS News Sunday Morning, Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, ABC News Now, NPR's Marketplace and is frequently called upon by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, American Demographics, Women's Wear Daily, Forbes, USA Today, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune for insight.
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