Younger affluent families who are relatively eco-friendly and early adopters of green technology. They tend to own their own property and have the financial means to purchase green tech and products.

By the numbers

This segment is made up of 3.5 million households who are younger (with 41% of the heads of household in this group aged 36-45), affluent families. They tend to live in modern detached houses with three to four bedrooms, which they typically own, with substantial mortgages. This segment is prominent in London commuter belt towns in south-east England.

In this segment, 37% are saving for holidays or travel, with the same number putting money aside for an emergency fund. These families are frequently online. They are subscribed to a variety of music and TV streaming services and access newspaper/magazine content online.

They are relatively eco-friendly and early adopters of green technology, and have the financial means to make the investment. They often have electric vehicles and are willing to engage in environmentally friendly behaviours, such as buying reusable products and consuming locally – as long as it doesn't impact their busy lives. Some 52% of this group would consider a heat pump for their next heating system in the next five years. However, installation costs would be their biggest barrier to getting a heat pump (32%), and lower energy bills would be the biggest motivator to get a heat pump (23%).

This segment has relatively fewer barriers to heat pump uptake. The majority own their own home. One in ten already have solar panels, and one in four are already using an induction hob instead of gas for cooking. The majority have outdoor space for a heat pump unit, and more than a quarter say they have space for a hot water tank.

Deep dive interview insights

Priorities for current heating system

An efficient system, providing good value for money, is a priority for this particular segment. There is also a strong desire to avoid wasting energy, with respondents reporting using energy-saving measures at home – from reducing consumption to wearing more layers. With a high proportion of this segment having young children at home, there is a strong desire to balance bills and comfort.

Benefits of moving to electric

Motivating factors to move to electric include self-sufficiency, escaping unpredictable gas prices and standing charges, alongside constant, stable temperatures. This segment sees the benefit in both cooling and heating the home, as well as reducing exposure to gas leaks.

Approaches to preparatory upgrades

Attitudes towards home upgrades is highly favourable, but only if proven to secure long-term savings. While this segment is more likely to opt for undertaking all upgrades at once, upfront costs are cited as a particular factor for those in this segment not wanting to undertake necessary upgrades.

Sources of information: seeking out authentic, lived experience testimonies is a focus of the research this segment undertook, along with heavy use of comparison websites and independent advice, including Which? Social media, including local Facebook groups but filtering out influencers and adverts, is a source for this segment, along with video content through YouTube.

Attitudes towards heat pumps

This segment is open to a heat pump in practice, although they noted that their current heating system works well, so they weren’t motivated to change imminently. But many report lacking the information they need to proceed with this, specifically information around costs and the return on their investment (ROI). ROI is a particular focus for this segment, with respondents focusing on long-term benefits, specifically visibility of expected running costs – and no increase from their current bills.

Potential message themes for this audience

Against the Britain Talks Climate groupings, this segment comprises incrementalist lefts and established liberals. Across these two groups, there is a tendency to be pragmatic about climate concerns, to value incremental progress and to put their trust in experts. Supporting the findings from the interviews, this group values experience-led decision-making and wants to see real-world evidence. Common traits include an economic-looking mindset and a focus on personal responsibility. Messages to this group are likely to resonate if they focus on cost and efficiency, everyday usability and proven mainstream technology – positioning heat pumps as the logical home upgrade people like them are doing. It may be best to avoid too much climate crisis messaging and overly technical language/detail

Public First produced a report in 2025, funded by The MCS Foundation and titled ‘Beyond Bills: Telling the right story on energy upgrades’. This research into messaging used values-led segmentation and Segment B from our research could roughly map against their segments of eco tech enthusiasts and passionate homemakers. Beyond Bills brought up aesthetics as another consideration for the eco tech enthusiasts (“A heat pump will look sleek in your home”). However, it was not a driver for the passionate homemakers who were more engaged with messages around the environmental benefits. In general, messages aligned to comfort at home, support from government grants and modern technology were well-received.

While there is more to do to find out ‘what works’ for each segment, our research to date suggests the message themes worth testing for this group reference reliability, constant comfort and support from grants.