New Mover Report 2012: Epsilon Finds Brand Loyalty Tested When Consumers Move

September 27, 2012

multipage

Epsilon recently released the annual "New Mover Report 2012," which looks at consumers' spending habits and brand affinity when they move from one home to another.

Epsilon conducted an online survey of 999 respondents, including both new movers and non-movers, to understand their categories of spend, brand loyalty by category, channel preferences and more. The categories of interest in the survey include household services, electronic products, appliances and professional services.

The three major themes of the report included:

1. Consumer brand loyalty is put to the test by New Movers.

2. Marketers have an opportunity to take advantage of New Movers' interest in changing or upgrading their professional services (home insurance, auto insurance, credit card, personal bank account, credit card, appliances warranty/insurance).

3. New Movers indicated direct mail remains a highly valued source for receiving information about product and services from marketers and is a highly valued form of marketing by Gen Y consumers.

"We have known for a long time that new movers represent a highly lucrative category for marketers as the average household moves every five years and during each move a household spends approximately $9,000 on a broad array of goods and services. When marketing to new movers, brands aren't just up against their competitors for share of spend, they're also competing against goods and services providers in other categories," said Don Hinman, senior vice president of data strategy at Epsilon. "By understanding at an even deeper level where they are spending and what opportunities marketers have to gain share of wallet, brands can create more effective, targeted campaigns to reach consumers during this major transition."

Additional report highlights:

• Research shows moving is an incentive to change service providers (60 percent of respondents) or upgrade (42 percent of respondents).
• Not only will New Movers change brands, but they're two to three times more likely to purchase/acquire or upgrade their products and services as well.
• In nearly all categories of the survey, 20 percent or more of New Movers change their current products and services.
• Additionally, in nearly all categories of the survey, 20 percent or more of New Movers upgrade their current products and services.
• New Movers indicated that direct mail and word of mouth are valued sources of information.

"Insight into how consumers are behaving as well as what they want from brands is critical to achieving marketing success. If your existing customer is about to embark on a move, they may be vulnerable to a switch to a competitor so it's important to identify customers who are moving and keep them engaged with your brand," added Hinman. "Direct mail and word of mouth carry a lot of weight so it's important to identify your brand advocates and maintain a relationship. With an understanding of who your consumers are and what their current needs are, you can craft a more effective dialogue and drive desired behaviors."

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