With fossil fuels heating around 25 million homes in the UK, we are releasing 54.3 megatonnes of carbon emissions every year from our homes. To combat global warming, we need to change the way we heat our homes.
There are low-carbon solutions already working in homes in this country, and heat pumps can play a major role. They are efficient and reliable – and proven. But compared to other countries in Europe, heat pumps are not very well known or understood in the UK.
While we are currently in the innovator adoption phase of heat pumps in this country, more support needs to be given to consumers to help them understand how heat pumps could work for them. Understanding what information consumers need and how to reach them with the right message at the right time is critical. Tailoring communication to each household is key to helping residents take the next step towards installing a heat pump. However, not everyone is at the same point – nor is every householder in a position where they have agency to install a heat pump, such as those who live in rented accommodation. Motivations and barriers to installing heat pumps can also differ.
Segmentation is a marketing approach that brings together distinct groups of consumers within a larger market who share similar characteristics, needs or behaviours. As part of phase one of our work to identify the next three million heat pump owners in Great Britain (the number Nesta’s previous reporting showed would need to install a heat pump during the life of this Parliament to meet the UK's climate obligations), we broke down the population based on demographics, housing and attitudes to heat pumps, to identify eight segments.
We wanted to gain a good understanding of how different segments of the population view heat pumps, so that we could develop relevant, tailored messages for each segment.
