How Marketers Can Better Engage with Movers

Epsilon released results of its 2015 New Mover Report which looked at consumer’s reasons for moving and associated purchase behaviors.

The research took a look at 963 households that had recently moved to uncover several themes essential to every marketer’s strategic plan to target new movers, according to a press release.

Past Epsilon research has shown that a household that moves typically spends $9,000 on goods, services and financial and insurance products.   With tens of millions of Americans moving last year alone, this presents a unique, time-sensitive and lucrative opportunity for companies and providers across many industries to engage with consumers.

Research has shown that the most popular reasons for moving were more space (22%), to be closer to family (18%) and to be in a different neighborhood (18%).  Other reasons include changing jobs or relocating, buying a newer home and downsizing.

Demographics played a key role in the motivation behind the move.  Younger movers were seeking more space, relocating to a different neighborhood or moving because of a major life change.  For older movers, Epsilon found that they were downsizing, moving closer to family or retiring.

High-income earners surveyed, those making over $100,000, were more likely to cite work-related reasons as their motivation for moving.

When it came to the spending behavior of movers, of those surveyed, 49% were homeowners, 51% were renters of their current, new home.  Home owners average income  ($77,000) was higher than that of renters ($49,000), indicating that not only do they have more money to purchase a home, but they also have discretionary income for spending on move-related purchases with 75% of owners making move-related purchases, compared to only 57% of renters.

A majority of responders made purchases related to their move; however 60% waited to make some household purchases until after the move.  In the months leading up to the move, approximately half of respondents indicated spending less than usual on various items such as vacation/travel, shoes, clothing, gifts and entertainment.   They continued spending less than usual in these categories in the months after the move.

Among the most popular purchases for new movers were furniture, such as couches/sofas, adult bedroom furniture and kitchen/dining tables, décor including curtains/window treatments, rugs and decorative wall pieces, appliances such as small kitchen appliances, washers and dryers and electronics including televisions.

Movers often acquire new service providers or change providers depending on where they relocate.  Most common service changes occurred in the categories of water, internet, cable TV, electricity, satellite TV, home phone and gas.

“New movers represent a lucrative audience for marketers especially when brands take into account insights and data to drive their strategy and deliver a compelling and relevant message – where, when and how the consumer wants to engage with the brand,” said Warren Storey, senior vice president of product marketing and insight.   “By understanding why the consumer is moving as well as anticipating their buying behavior, marketers can tailor their messaging and capture a larger share of wallet from the tens of millions of movers every year.”