Challenge, Constraint and Committment to Change: A New Zealand Consumer Lifestyles Study

Abstract

The current Consumer Lifestyles segmentation study is the seventh major survey of this type carried out in the Department of Marketing at the University of Otago. As with previous iterations, the 2020 Lifestyle Study is designed to provide insights into the lifestyles, consumption patterns and choices, and behavioural trends of New Zealanders.

The New Zealand Consumer Lifestyles Reports provide detailed snapshots of the unique behaviours, attitudes and spending patterns of consumers. In addition to covering important core topics like household disposable income, savings and credit, and home ownership, the reports also contain statistics on more specific consumer-related topics such as eating and drinking habits, decision making factors, product preferences, and descriptions of how consumers spend their leisure and recreation time.

The report discusses the major social and demographic trends since the 2015 study to inform and contextualise the changing attitudes and behaviours of New Zealand consumers. The Report then introduces the six lifestyle segments identified in the study: Financial Strugglers, Traditional Family Values, Educated Liberals, Uncertain Young, Contemporary New Zealanders, and, the Disengaged. The discussion of the segments provides a number of new and useful insights into the contemporary world of the New Zealand consumer.