With the consumers it serves, the home and housewares sector has had to deal with uncertainty over the past several years as the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic played out. At the same time, a new generation of consumers, Gen Z, emerged, and Millennials began to experience the fundamental changes that come along as people navigate adulthood.

The 2025 IHA Occasions and At-Home Entertaining surveys conducted (in partnership with market researcher Morning Consult) spotlight potential product development, marketing and sales opportunities available to a home and housewares industry that thrives by addressing key life moments and everyday get-togethers.

The socio-economic consequences of the past few years have been several. How people socialize has evolved at the same time. After home confinement during the pandemic, getting out and about became a priority for consumers. However, both Millennials and Gen Z have demonstrated some propensity toward doing more at home, which makes sense considering the investment so many households made in professional and leisure-time home capabilities during the pandemic.

Of course, inflation has had its own effect recently and has become a factor in making the home a more attractive place for socializing as price stabilization. Fresh research by Circana provides evidence that the home is again becoming more central to consumer entertainment. In its Eating Patterns in America report, Circana pointed to serveware and specialty appliances such as ice cream makers and chocolate fountains as an indication of consumers wanting to do more socializing at home. In that case, consumers expecting upcoming occasions for themselves, their family and their friends may be more inclined to prefer products that make homes more functional and fun.

Another consideration is changing demographics in the United States as people live longer and have fewer children. In a survey commissioned by marketing platform Omnisend, 51.2% of respondents said parents were part of their holiday gift lists, with a spouse cited next most frequently, at 50.8%, then followed by children at 49%, suggesting that gifting is shifting focus from kids even at those times when they were the absolute center of attention to adults.

Although they look at consumer behavior across activities and product categories, the Occasions and At-Home Entertaining reports provide relevant insight into how consumers view events, socializing and gift-giving more generally. An interesting part involves how consumers spend money on gifts. In the research, 36% of consumers said they would pay as much for products purchased for themselves as they would for family and friends, and although 32% of consumers would spend at least a little more for family and friends’ gifts, 15% said they would pay less. As such, companies may want to think about how to make more of the self-gifting opportunity.

The 2025 Occasions and At-Home Entertaining reports are published exclusively by HomePage News and offer data-backed insights on why and how retailers and suppliers should continually consider and prioritize their roles as gift-givers for such major life events as weddings, new home purchases, the birth of children, off-to-college and retirement, as well as for annual occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries, not to mention “anytime moments” when families and friends just want to get together and celebrate.

Pandemics, supply chain issues and lingering inflation have affected consumers and how they celebrate the times of their lives. However, at its core, sharing life-changing events and everyday moments with loved ones is fundamental to satisfying lives. The results of the Occasions and At-Home Entertaining reports provide a view of what is occurring and what is forthcoming regarding opportunities to engage consumers. They also underscore that the things consumers secure to celebrate and facilitate the moments of their lives will remain vital.

Methodology
The 2025 IHA Occasions Survey was conducted by Morning Consult between September 10 and 12, 2024, among a sample of 2,201 U.S. adults. The interviews were conducted online and the data was weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on age, gender, race, educational attainment, region, gender by age and race by education attainment. Results from the full survey have a margin of error plus or minus two to five percentage points.