Our Moving Minds research has revealed that only 3% of people moving home identify the garden as being the most important part of their new property.
Despite the garden being at the bottom of home mover’s priority list, almost one third (27%) of people state they will still spend money on garden supplies with the average UK household spending around £150 on their garden each year*. Their intended means of funding home improvement provides a telling insight into home mover mindset too. Our new study uncovered that those moving to the suburbs and countryside are most likely to spend money on garden materials with 45% using bank loans, credit cards and payment plans to fund this.
Moving Minds is a nationally representative study undertaken in conjunction with Ragdoll Research and Durham University. Moving Minds surveyed more than 2000 people in the home moving process (both buyers and renters) and introduces 8 UK home mover segments, grouped according to their unique motivations for moving.
Gareth Evans, Growth Director at Cogent said: “Knowing the garden is so far down the priority list for many, purchases of garden supplies and materials are most likely made begrudgingly or without in-depth consideration. Not only does this give us a valuable insight into the marketing messages brands might use to help home movers overcome their reticence to spend on this part of their property, it might also hint at some of the psychological factors behind our spending when we move”.
The Head of the Department of Psychology at Durham University, Professor Richard Crisp explains: “From what we know about mental accounting, it makes perfect sense that people prefer to purchase goods like garden materials using credit (rather than savings). This is because we experience the ‘pain’ of loss as greater than the ‘joy’ of gain. Paying for things using credit cards or other deferred payment methods makes the gain (the goods) more tangible than the loss (the money we’re handing over). So, when we’re making garden purchases (for a part of our home not at the top of our priority list) we’re going to be particularly sensitive to handing over our hard-earned savings. However, we will perhaps be a little more tempted if we can ‘hide’ the monetary loss, at least temporarily, using some form of credit.”
In the first 12 months after moving, we spend roughly the same on home and garden improvements as we do in the five years that follow. This equates to thousands spent by each mover on home improvements and move-related purchases in the year after moving. Indeed, around £16bn of UK consumer spend each year is attributed to people moving home* while UK households collectively spent around £7.5billion on garden materials in 2017**.
Given that moving to a new home is a powerful ‘inertia buster’, in terms of our behaviours, preferences and approach to spending, this new behavioural insight provides the gardening sector brands with a rich new perspective on how to unlock the potential of a fertile audience.
**HTA