Solo Podcast

Single Insights:

The Science of Solos

Organizations are fixated on families—targeting them with products and promotions. By doing so, however, companies end up fighting for the same customers.

Yet there is another market that is overlooked and undervalued. Recognizing this large, diverse group of people provides unique opportunities to escape the competition.

They are the one hundred and twenty-eight million adults in the United States who are unmarried (nearly 50% of the adult population). Moreover, 28% of households in the United States are single occupancy—a number as high as 50% in some Scandinavian cities.

Single Insights is the resource for managers, marketers, entrepreneurs, and salespeople who see an opportunity to escape the competition by serving solos in the marketplace.

Solos are not simply one half of a couple. Thus, serving solos requires a different perspective. For example, solos have more discretion over how and what they spend their money on. They are also more mobile—in where they live, how they work, and what they do for fun. Less than half are even interested in coupling up.

In short, solos have optionality (for better or for worse).

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Representing Singles in Your Marketing Communications

Subscribe to Single Insights: The Science of Solos This article first appeared here. Imagine an advertisement that shows a woman taking a pregnancy test. What

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The Business Case for Singles: Q & A

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Singles and Their Pets

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Alone Not at Home: What do Singles do Alone in Public?

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Singles are Fueling the World’s Biggest Day of eCommerce

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Introducing Single Insights: The Science of Solos

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Single Insights coming soon.

Peter McGraw’s latest project is launching Monday.

November 3, 2021

Topics include:

• Why Singles’ day (11/11) turned from a niche celebration on a college campus to the biggest ecommerce day of the year.

• How singles have different responsibilities caring for themselves and disproportionately caring for their pets and aging parents.

• In a twist on the American Dream, why singles are more likely to see their house, apartment, or Sprinter van as a home base rather than as a home.

• What are the demographic, psychographic, and technological trends behind the explosive growth in single living.

• How South Korean businesses are creatively building business models to serve the Honjoks—a group of young, creative solos breaking free of Korea’s collectivistic norms.

More insights are available on LinkedIn, Medium, Psychology Today, or McGraw’s blog.