‘Mom market’ is shifting

The motherhood market is both graying and greening, according to a new report from Experian Marketing Services. The changes are fairly sweeping.

“The universe of moms of children 18 and under who are 35 plus has grown from 40.9 million to 44.9 million in just four years,” Jan Jindra, Experian product manager, told Marketing Daily. “And of moms who are 35 and under -- the group most likely to be influenced by advertising -- we are seeing big shifts in their willingness to buy green products.”

That’s exciting, she says, because typically it has been older consumers who have been most likely to purchase green products. “While the true ‘Brown’ segment has stayed very consistent at about 20 percent, we’ve seen the number of younger moms classified as ‘Potential Greens’ decline from 48 percent to 25 percent, as they are moving into the ‘Thinking Green’ and ultimately, the ‘Buying Green’ categories.”

She attributes that shift to more information available about the impact of green choices on children’s health, whether it’s reading about organic milk or the benefits of free-range chicken. The growth trend toward green purchases among younger moms, at this point, is outpacing the 35-and-older mothers by at least 5 percent a year.

She says the report also indicates that the recession -- with a more intense focus on household budgets -- has helped increase women’s influence in all family purchases, with 69 percent of moms saying they are the most influential person in the household when it comes to making purchase decisions.

The study also puts the population of moms who work outside the home (either full- or part-time) at 62 percent, or 19.6 million moms, while 21.5 percent (or 6.8 million) identify themselves as stay-at-homers. Some 30.8 percent, or 9.7 million, are unmarried.

Read more at MarketingDaily.