Adult Bedroom Purchase Drivers

Published: March, 04 2008

By Thomas A. Prais

Effectively marketing a product depends on asking when and why consumers are most receptive to your product and message. For lattes or baby formula, the answers are easy (the morning commute, having a newborn). But furniture is a big-ticket durable good that — unlike a car or washing machine — doesn’t usually break down. So, absent a pressing need, and with the price of entry so high, when are consumers most receptive to a furniture retailer’s message?

Sixty-four percent of respondents in this year’s The Retail Experience survey who bought adult bedroom furniture did so as a consequence of a major change in their life. As expected, home ownership was a major driver, but — for those following housing market developments with anxiety — so were moves that didn’t involve purchasing a home.

Likewise, one would expect marriage to inspire home furnishings purchases — and it did, but almost as many survey respondents cited an empty nest as the life event that precipitated their purchase.

Such information is especially useful to retailers that practice targeted marketing, such as keyword buys for online searches. Retailers that invest in mailing lists might consider reaching out to local real estate agent, apartment managers and wedding planners for leads. And for retailers seeking to craft a message that resonates emotionally with consumers, a new home or marriage trumps a President’s Day sale... even during an election year.