Meet the 4 new singleton consumer types you need to get to know

According to the 2011 Census, England and Wales has seven million single-person households. This should be of great interest to brands and marketers because singles typically have different consumer interests and habits compared to their coupled-up counterparts.

In contrast to singles, young couples generally have less focus on convenience shopping and stores. As they’re more likely to be on the property ladder (or trying to get on it) they have less active social lives, instead staying in and spending money on home entertainment.

Those in their 40s, who are living with partners, also tend to spend less time and money going out, in particular on eating out. A greater incidence of households with children in this age group also means their spending power, shopping habits and leisure activities are very different to single households in the same age bracket.

Four key types of single household
New research based on the latest Census data and applying Mosaic insight, has revealed that the average single person earns approximately £35k, lives in Nottingham, drives a Volkswagen, shops at Tesco and is around 30 years old. While marketers need to be mindful of the differences in consumer behaviour between singles and couples, they must also take account of the needs of different sub-groups within the singles bracket.
Single households can be broken down into four key types:

1.Suddenly Singletons
Well paid executives in their early 40s is the typical profile in this group. With household incomes of around £70,000 they are three times more likely than the average person to shop at Waitrose and they also eat out regularly. Professional roles in IT, finance, pharmaceuticals and publishing dominate career-wise and they are regulars on the internet – managing finances, checking headlines and networking through sites like LinkedIn.

2. Solus Singletons
This group is mainly elderly, living on private pensions and have downsized to retire to small flats in modern purpose built blocks. The South Coast is the most popular area for this type although Edinburgh also comes high up on the list. They are frequent shoppers – choosing M&S and branded local convenience stores for groceries.

3. Struggling Singletons
Aged 18-25 this is the least affluent of the singles groups. They are two and half times more likely than average to have an income of less than £10,000 a year earned from unskilled, manual jobs and 60 per cent more likely to be unemployed.

4. Starting Out Singletons
These are younger singles (typically aged between 26 and 30) who own or rent new inner city apartments or small houses on modern estates in places like Harrow, Lewisham and Bristol-Broadmead. They earn on average around £30,000 a year and tend to work in advertising, media, IT, pharmaceuticals and telecoms.

Insight beyond Census data
Marketers must keep up-to-date with insight around societal trends, as it will always form a critical part of any successful and engaging campaign – but getting the right data is key. While Census data is rich in detail, it is only by combining this with greater data and insight that real value can be attained for marketers. This can be the difference between good and great campaigns.

By DMA guest blogger Danny Thompson, Head of Product Marketing, Data & Analytics, Experian Marketing Services