TABLE OF
CONTENTS
03
INTRODUCTION
04
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
05
METHODOLOGY
06
A SIGNAL OF CHANGE
08
THE SOCIAL SELFTHE FINANCIAL SELFTHE PROFESSIONAL
SELFNEW IMPERATIVES
FOR BRANDSABOUT
ALL THE SINGLE LADIES: REACHING THE MODERN INDEPENDENT WOMAN3
Today, the “standard” American
household reects a changing cultural
tide: the average age of marriage
continues to rise, and there are almost
as many single households as married
ones in the United States. In addition,
there are more unmarried women
than unmarried men.
While CMOs chase Millennials,
Millennial moms, and Gen Z, it’s our
perspective that “single women” is a
growing, valuable, and underserved
group. And yet, in much of today’s
marketing communications, a dated
stigma about single women remains
pervasive.
With this context in mind, Origin, an
independently operated market
research company owned by Hill
Holliday set out to better understand
this audience and their views on life,
marriage, work, and more.
Perhaps no demographic term in
American culture is as loaded as
“single woman.” Certainly the term
has enjoyed connotations both good
and bad throughout history, signaling
something quite different in 1925,
1945, 1975, and today.
The above print ad for Listerine, circa
1930, serves as a remarkable reminder
of just how broadly marketers must
adapt to changing social and cultural
norms, and how they affect the
female consumer. It’s impossible to
imagine any brand marketing any
product to women using this tone
without irony today.
Consider for a moment how much
the idea of the “single woman” as a
marketing category has changed
in just the last few decades alone.
It’s been quite a journey from Jane
Austen to Helen Gurley Brown, from
Bridget Jones and Carrie Bradshaw to
Tracee Ellis Ross.
And as her birthdays
crept gradually toward
that tragic thirty-mark,
marriage seemed farther
from her life than ever.
She was often a bridesmaid,
but never a bride.
While we understand that “single
women” is actually a constellation of
individuals representing many
different life stages and domestic
arrangements, for the purposes
of this research we chose to focus
on women who’ve remained
never-married and without children
into their 30s and 40s, a pivotal
time when they begin to plan their
future for “me” and not “we.”
We conducted proprietary research,
including focus groups and a national
quantitative study conducted with
over 1,000 respondents.
The study revealed valuable insights
about their attitude toward being
single, their assessment of goals and
milestones, their portrayal in the
media, and how they differ from both
single men of the same age and their
married female counterparts.
INTRODUCTION
Listerine, Print Ad, 1936
ALL THE SINGLE LADIES: REACHING THE MODERN INDEPENDENT WOMAN4
A new approach to understanding, reaching, and resonating with
modern single women is overdue and urgently needed. Across the
United States, a new consumer segment is poised to dramatically
impact the economy of the future: single women. How can single
women be considered new Simply put, many brands and advertisers
have failed to adjust to the unprecedented pace of change affecting
nearly every area of single women’s lives — from work, to social life, to
nancial planning.
Women are the world’s most dominant consumers, controlling 85% of
U.S. household buying power — and nearly half of them (45.2%) are
single. Put another way, women are now nearly as likely to be single
as they are married, and the number of single women continues to
rise, outpacing the growth of the single male population.
Brands who underestimate the buying power of adult single women are
leaving opportunity on the table. In today’s fragmented marketing
landscape, brands that fail to acknowledge the modern single woman
— or worse, insult her — will be chasing the rewards of those that get it
right. This has implications for all brands; nearly half of the single
women we surveyed think that single women are “non-existent” in
advertising, and 44% do not think that they are fairly represented. Those
in the home buying, travel, automotive, nancial planning, and
insurance categories should take particular note.
Our research sought to look beyond common understandings of
contemporary life for single women to explore the role that culture and
advertisers play in perpetuating dated stigmas, and the opportunities
that lie ahead for brands.
Our study unearthed four simple truths:
1.Single Women Are Content with Their Current Life Path
But Wonder If There's More
2.Single Women Shy Away From Judgement by Others
3.The Financial Literacy Gap Still Exists for Single Women
4.Single Women Want Work/Life Balance, Too
This report explores each of these simple truths and the implications
for modern consumer brands. It was our hope in conducting the
research and sifting through the data that the results would challenge
conventional assumptions about single women and accurately reect
a more modern face of this consumer segment.
We invite you to explore the ndings, insights, and emerging
opportunities for brands in the following pages. For more information
about the report or to discuss how the data can impact your marketing
strategy, please contact us here.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY%
of single women surveyed
consider marriage
to be their top priority
NEARLY DOUBLED SINCE
1960
The never-married
cohort of female
Americans
continues to grow
— this group has
48
%
think that single
women are
“non-existent”
in advertising
44
%
DO NOT THINK
OF SINGLE WOMEN
SURVEYED
they are fairly represented
Source: Hill Holliday/Origin, U.S. Single Women Study, 2018
Source: Hill Holliday/Origin, U.S. Single Women Study, 2018
Source: Pew Research, American Community Survey, 2014
Source: Hill Holliday/Origin, U.S. Single Women Study, 2018。