Ireland’s property trap and the cocooning trend
Ireland is in the midst of a cocooning trend that is being fuelled by a property boom which has made trading up inaccessible to many. Mortgages are cutting the disposable income available to adults, with a large knock-on effect on their social lives. As a result, people in this age category are putting more of an emphasis on home improvement and entertainment. The phrase ‘a man’s home is his castle’ rings true for many households.
If you look at the Central Statistics Office’s report on Household Composition, Family Units and Fertility from the 2006 Census, it is evident that this trend is likely to continue over the coming years. The report highlighted the increase in one-person households which have increased 18.7 per cent since 2002.
There are two interesting perspectives to this trend from a marketing point of view - watching how companies are responding to this lifestyle shift and its effects on purchasing patterns.
One sector that spotted this trend early on was the drinks industry. In recent years the industry has stepped up its campaign to target the take-home market in Ireland. The most notable example of this is Guinness’ latest advertising campaign which is specifically targeted at this market segment. In addition they have also tapped into a popular social trend with their Poker Nights initiative. Both activities resonate with the target audience because they feed a number of attributes of the audience profile, specifically:
• Engages in social activity that requires participation of two or more people
• Places importance on ritual events
• Broad interests rather than a narrow focus of hobbies
• Eager to self-improve
In addition to this, despite mortgages limiting disposable income the purchase of a home represents a major opportunity to marketers because such a purchase generates sales of five to eight major appliances. More companies are beginning to target property developers to offer kitted out homes. As more people entertain at home it wouldn’t surprise us to see appliance manufacturers such as high end coffee machine makers take a leaf out of Starbucks’ book and begin educating consumers about the superiority of their products.
One wonders whether that will ultimately reverse the cocooning trend and drive people out of their home…who could sit through a lecture about the product specifications of a Plasma Screen 
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