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Young are hot prospects

New homes, families need new bedding

By Vicky Jarrett -- Furniture Today, September 23, 2001

As with almost every other product category covered by Furniture/Today's Consumer Buying Trends 2001 survey, younger consumers are the hottest prospects for buying mattresses and boxsprings.

Although young singles, young parents and middle parents do not top the list in terms of the amount they spent or plan to spend on bedding, they are buying at a rate that outpaces their proportion to the population.

Well, it makes sense. After all, these are the households that are establishing their first homes and are growing with new babies swelling the household size.

Together, the three demographic groups could account for more than $1.1 billion in bedding sales this year:

Young singles: Buying bedding for newly established homes, this group plans to spend a median of $325 on each bedding purchase. As 5% of the plan-to-buy households, the group comprises more than $153 million in potential bedding sales.
Young parents: This group may be buying bedding for the adults in the household, but without a doubt crib, toddler and youth bedding is a hot product for these consumers. With slightly lower plan-to-spend median dollars, at $300 for each bedding purchase this group could bring in more than a half billion dollars in bedding sales.
Middle parents: Stepping up young children into their first real beds and possibly replacing their first mattress purchases that are now 10+ years old, this group plans to spend a median of $300 on each bedding purchase. At well over 1 million households planning to buy bedding this year, the group comprises nearly $400 million of potential bedding sales.

Target populations

These groups plan to purchase a mattress and boxspring in 2001 at a rate higher than their proportion to the population.

Plan to buy index*:

* An index of 100 = planning to spend at same rate as the group's proportion to the national population

Age

Under 25… 168

25 - 34… 146

35 - 44… 122

Lifestage

Young singles…135

Young parents…162

Middle parents…135

Methodology

The information on mattress/boxspring buying comes from the responses of more than 27,000 households to a survey conducted in January. The profile of the responding households closely matches the demographic characteristics of all U.S. households. That coupled with the large sample size and a response rate of 68% means the data can be projected nationally with a margin of error of plus/minus 1%.

Furniture/Today had National Family Opinion poll 40,000 households to find out about last year's shopping and purchasing patterns and buying plans for this year. The survey also gathered information on what they spent.

The original survey covered shopping and buying for 22 product categories, including mattresses and boxsprings. Summary data for all product categories appeared in Furniture/Today's March 5, 2000, issue.

The survey did not distinguish between the purchase of new or second-hand furniture. While we asked about purchases in the last twelve months, it's entirely possible that consumers forgot exactly how much they spent on a mattress/boxspring — and whether that included sales tax.

Terminology

Households: All those living together in one housing unit, including family members or unrelated individuals.
Age: Of the household head.
Household income: Combined income of all household members.
Median: Divides the responses into two equal portions, half above and half below the median amount.
Life stage:
Young singles: One member household, age of head under 35.
Working older couple: Multi-member household, age of head 45 and over, head of household employed, married or non-related individual of opposite sex 18 and over present, no children present.
Retired older couple: Multi-member household, age of head 45 and over, head of household not employed, married or non-related individual of opposite sex 18 and over present, no children present.
Young parent: Multi-member household, age of head under 45, youngest child under 6.
Middle parent: Multi-member household, age of head under 45, youngest child 6 and over.
Plan-to-buy index: A plan-to-buy index of 100 indicates that a demographic group is planning to buy a product in the same proportion as their presence in the population. Any number over 100 indicates that the group will be buying a product at a rate higher than their presence in the sample. A plan-to-buy index of 250 for a group indicates that they plan to buy at a rate 2.5 times higher than their presence in the population.

Households with incomes of ...

$50,000-74,999 account for …

20% of those planning to buy a mattress/ boxspring in 2001

25% of the planned-to-spend dollars

$75,000 - $99,999 account for …

12% of those planning to buy a mattress/ boxspring in 2001

15% of the planned-to-spend dollars

$100,000 or more account for …

9% of those planning to buy a mattress/ boxspring in 2001

14% of the planned-to-spend dollars

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