The NKBA’s first behavioral survey analyzes the way consumers use their homes and kitchens and how that affects remodeling projects. By Dianne M. Pogoda

How do people really use their kitchens?

In its latest market research study, NKBA endeavored to find out — and the results offer a detailed analysis into the evolving way homeowners live in their kitchens and how this drives remodeling preferences in the $74 billion kitchen market.

The Lifestyle Segmentation Report, released this month, identifies homeowner attitudes and behaviors regarding cooking, meal preparation, entertaining and kitchen design, and the influence of their lifestyles on the kitchen remodel and installation process.

The national online survey was conducted among nearly 800 adults with household income of $40,000 or higher who had remodeled their kitchen or planned to remodel between November 2016 and August 2018.

The survey segmented respondents by their confidence levels regarding cooking abilities, confidence in their kitchen design abilities, and their comfort level with using technology in the kitchen.

“This exclusive research is a somewhat of a departure from our traditional studies, which typically analyze product categories, design trends, size of the market and business projections,” said Bill Darcy, NKBA CEO. “It’s the first time we’re looking at how changes in consumer lifestyle impact the actual use of our industry’s product and services. The data provides valuable insight for designers, remodelers, dealers, showroom associates and other professionals in how they serve their clients. This commitment to research and analysis reinforces NKBA’s thought leadership in the marketplace, and offers strategic information for the benefit of our membership.”

The report provides data on family dining, how they prepare meals, entertain, what other activities occur in the kitchen (paying bills, homework, etc.), how they use technology in the space, their storage needs and more. Further, the study offers a correlation between these elements and design, the need for professionals in the process, how and where consumers shop for and buy kitchen products, and more.

The full Lifestyle Segmentation Report is available for purchase at the NKBA store. For more information, click on NKBA-Lifestyle-Segmentation-Report or NKBA-Lifestyle-Segmentation-Executive-Summary.