New Amazon Ads research explores how major milestones can impact the relationship between consumers and brands
Life can be measured in years, seasons, minutes, or even cups of coffee—but for many, it’s measured in personal milestones. Significant life events, like completing a degree, moving into a new home, or starting a family, can lead individuals to reprioritize what’s important to them. And as our needs change, so do our relationships with products, services, and brands.
To help shed light on how life events impact consumer attitudes and behavior, Amazon Ads recently conducted a study on this topic in conjunction with the consultancy Alter Agents. The research employed a combination of mobile ethnographies and a quantitative survey to assess how consumers ages 18 to 74 in the U.S. interact with brands from across a range of product categories as they prepare for some of life’s biggest moments.
What we learned
Traditionally, life milestones have been viewed as part of a linear journey: get your degree, fall in love and get married, move into a new house, start a family, and so on. But as the trajectory of our lives has become less predictable, these events can happen in different orders and at a variety of ages. As a result, it has become increasingly challenging for brands to rely solely on demographics to identify and engage with prospective customers. Instead, today’s brands need to leverage a broad range of advertising strategies and solutions to better connect with their core consumer base.
4 key research findings
1. Life events impact the way consumers think, shop, and spend their time
According to a majority of respondents, personal milestones have a pervasive impact on their day-to-day lives—often causing them to change their beliefs and behavior.
More than half of consumers say a current life event has influenced their personal values.
68% of consumers say their current life event has influenced the way their spend their money.
67% of consumers say their current life event has influenced the way they spend their time.
This life event has definitely changed the way I spend my time and values because now, legally, I'm married. It kind of changes the mindset where this is a person I'm spending my future with, and I have to think from two people's perspectives, and think for a household instead of just myself. So, in terms of my values—my marriage and my partner are, I guess, more important now. And I spend more time with them as well, since getting married.... So this has definitely changed how I spend time and my priorities in life.
— Sara S., 24, on getting married
2. Brand and product research takes center stage for consumers during life events
A majority of consumers say they become more intentional about their brand decisions when experiencing life events. This behavior trend may have important implications for how brands develop their marketing strategies.
6 in 10 consumers say they are more likely to spend time researching products.
6 in 10 consumers say they rely more on online sources (such as search, reviews, and retail websites) due to a life event.
5 in 10 consumers say they rely more on advertisements due to a life event.
I think the biggest change, honestly, that I saw from a media standpoint is I actually started consuming more media regarding houses and house purchasing and renovations, because we were going to buy a fixer-upper. So, in some ways, I almost felt like I started watching more TV and consuming more online, because I was going to be doing this big milestone.
— Karynn S., 32, on buying a home
3. Media consumption increases among consumers during life events—making entertainment channels a particularly effective avenue for brands to reach and engage them
During significant life events, media becomes increasingly important to consumers—providing them an opportunity to learn from and connect with others based on shared experiences, as well as a way to unwind from the stress of researching and planning.
- 57% of consumers say that they are using at least one type of audio or video media channel more as a result of a particular life event—with the biggest net changes found in their engagement with streaming music and streaming TV.
Net increase in media usage due to life events
| Watch linear TV | Watch streaming TV | Watch livestreaming | Listen to streaming music | Listen to podcasts | Play video games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| More | 27% | 32% | 29% | 32% | 27% | 26% |
| Less | 19% | 16% | 18% | 13% | 19% | 26% |
| Net change | +8 | +16 | +11 | +19 | +8 | 0 |
4. Entering a new life event tends to trigger a specific set of category needs.
Our research found that how a consumer interacts with a particular retail category might look different depending on which life event they are experiencing.
Which life events should your category focus on?
| Starting college | Graduating college | Starting a new job | Moving | Buying a home | Getting married | Expecting a child | Getting a pet | Retiring | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automotive | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Consumer Electronics | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Fashion | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Financial Services | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Home Goods | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Home Improvement | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Telecommunications | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Travel | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Now, I will say that I have listened to podcasts and music a lot more. I am doing this because while I am packing things and moving things and organizing things, I really, really like to have something on in the background, and specifically podcasts and audiobooks.
— Alexa M., 21, on starting college