Workplace Romance and Single People (5)
Consumer-products companies like us are taking note. A&A is addressing the needs of what we see as a lucrative and expanding market by rethinking our traditional family-focused product development and marketing. Looking beyond the paradigm of the middle-class family of four makes for a big shift. Product makers see opportunities across this market, especially among young, affluent city dwellers and aging consumers.
For generations, consumers favored appliances with a big capacity. Manufacturers boasted about how many T-shirts could be squeezed into a washing machine, or how easily a big turkey could slide into an oven. But smaller households usually choose appliances based on which ones best suit their living space and needs.
People who live alone don’t want to bake full-size cakes, buy eggs by the dozen, run half-loaded dishwashers or store 24-packs of toilet paper.
Appliance makers are shrinking refrigerators and ovens, food companies are producing more single-serving options, and makers of household products are revamping their packaging. At the same time, some singles want smaller appliances but bigger closets, or they prefer to have one huge roll of toilet paper over multiple backup rolls they have to store somewhere.
Researchers also have found that singles are interested in buying things from companies that are socially and environmentally aware. We need to keep a close eye on this trend-our bottom line depends on it.
