My Home: Shelter, Shack or Showroom?

This in-depth examination of homes across South Africa utilized innovative qualitative research tools in the form of 12 dinner party focus groups, as well as 25 filmed informal conversations with people in and about their homes. The findings were quantified using Research Surveys' Omnichek survey of 2000 metro and 1500 rural participants representing all races, genders and age-groups.

The findings reflect that there is a strong consensus on investing whatever you can in home décor and improvement: 69% of Metro South Africans agree that when they have extra money, they spend it on buying things for their home. Agreement levels are even higher in the rural areas where 75% say the same thing. Interestingly, being house proud is not the exclusive domain of the women in the home - men show similar sentiments - although the strength of conviction does still tend to be stronger for women than men.

Moreover, the consistent agreement scores indicate that the need to beautify our homes does not depend on where we live or how much disposable cash we have in our pockets, as there is very little variation in the figures across the LSMs. In fact, the successful coffee table book Shack Chic: Art and Innovation in South African Shack-Lands (Craig Fraser, 2003), illustrates how incredibly resourceful people can be in making their homes look lovely in its depiction of the chic interiors of informal dwellings in South Africa.

'Badge value'

It is clear that the home has significant badge value. 88% of total SA said that it is important that their home creates the best impression possible. The fact that 76% said they feel they can tell a lot about a person when they walk into their home indicates that for many people their homes are core to their identity - it represents who they are, their status and they tend to judge others by their home(s). 76% of respondents said that their home reflects their position in society.

Displaying one's status and achievements is important to many of us, and a primary way to do this is through conspicuous consumption in the home, the study found.

The impact of this is that some respondents said they feel exhausted by the pressures and pace of the rat race and the constant struggle to keep up with the Khumalos' or the Jones'. What does this mean for conspicuous consumption and the status race for the future? The Home presentations by the UCT Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing will be held in: Durban: 18 October; Johannesburg: 19 October and Cape Town: 22 October, and will explore some possibilities and the trends that are emerging out of the data. Contact: Katherine Thomson; Tel: +27 +21 650 4312 or email: , to book.