The Growing Importance Of The Home For Young Consumers

More young consumers are enjoying their time at home.
A new report by youth marketing experts YPulse titled “No Place Like Home” provides significant new insights on how the Covid pandemic has changed how Gen Z and Millennials view the homes. The following statement summarizes key findings: “As young people look to their spaces as mental health retreats, at-home items and services that comfort, declutter, or foster a feeling of escape that from the outside world will resonate.” The opportunities for marketers are clear and will be elaborated on below.
YPulse previously observed that millennials have homebody tendencies, with a majority preferring to go to a café or watch Netfix at home as opposed to going to a party on a Saturday night. A recent survey confirms that this sentiment was present even prior to the pandemic, with, “…67% of 19-37 year olds telling YPulse in January this year that they would rather stay in on the weekends than go out.”

MaryLeigh Bliss, Vice-President for Content, YPulse
Both millennials and GenZ (widely regarded as the most stressed out generation in history) are seeing the home as a refuge from the outside world, as many have felt stressed by issues such as climate change, the 2008 recession, student debt, and now Covid-19.
YPulse and it’s Vice President for Content, MaryLeigh Bliss predict three major trends pertaining to young people and attitudes toward home going forward that are worth looking at and considering into how they affect marketers. They are:
1) Shifts in How Young People Use Their Homes Will Create Opportunity For Marketers
With a strong majority of Millennials and GenZ having the goal of owning a home, how they use that home will be of interest to markets in many product categories. YPulse points out several Covid-related shifts in emphasis among the younger consumers in terms of how they will use space, including heightened demand for:
- Fully equipped home offices (seating, lighting, desks, temperature control), with many indicating a preference to work at home even after the pandemic.
- Home fitness space and equipment, with 63% indicating that when the pandemic ends they would prefer to exercise at him.
- Private outdoor space, with many preferring having their own private space even after Covid passes as opposed to using public parks for this purpose
- Cooking supplies and well-equipped kitchens. While the demand for eating out does not appear to have done away, there has been an uptick in the number reporting that cooking is a hobby.
- Play space for children; this has been spurred by many dealing with home schooling while trying to keep them busy via fun and productive entertainment.
Clearly, each of these trends creates opportunities for brands in these categories.

More young consumers are taking up cooking as a hobby
2) Renewed Emphasis on Comfort, Simpler Design, and Home Improvement
YPulse reports that Covid has led to 80% of young people self-quarantining and, 83% reporting that their home has provided them with comfort during the pandemic.