Inside the mind of today’s home heating oil customer Groundbreaking research and critical insights into how customers think of your product, services and the competition... Rich Goldberg President Warm Thoughts Communications About the study... The survey was conducted over the Internet from May–July, 2015 in six states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York (Long Island) and Rhode Island. Respondents were paid a small incentive and typically completed the survey in 20 minutes. The results comprise a total of 2,579 completed interviews from home-owning decision makers who use oil as their primary home heating fuel. The study is statistically accurate with a margin of error of 1.9% at the 95% confidence interval. As a point of comparison, this pool of respondents in just six states is as large as the most recent American Home Comfort Study, which covered the contiguous 48 states and is widely considered the most authoritative research into HVAC buying behaviors. tors. We looked at options that included natural gas, propane, electric heat pumps, wood pellets and solar. We even tested some messages that have been used in pro-oil marketing. Clearly, we have much to be concerned about, but you knew that already. While the vulnerability to conversion varies significantly from state to state, overall we are in a tough position. That being said, this study provides some reason for hope, and certainly helps clarify the targets and messages that will help our efforts pay off. Below, I’ve summarized important findings of the summary on a national scale. If you operate in one of the states that sponsored the study, please contact your state association for a more detailed report of the findings in your area. I’ve broken findings into categories of “Bad News” and “Good News” followed by “What Matters” and “What Doesn’t.” First, let’s get the bad news out of the way. Continued on p. 6 For many years, the oilheat industry has struggled to maintain market share in the face of significant challenges. Not surprisingly, differences of opinion have risen regarding how those in the industry should focus our efforts to fight for our future. Now, for the first time in years, we have substantial, quantifiable data to illuminate a pathway forward. This spring, six oilheat associations, with funding from the National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA), joined together to conduct the most comprehensive oilheat consumer study in almost 15 years: The Oilheat Consumer Perceptions and Attitudes Research Study. Warm Thoughts Communications, Inc. was chosen to conduct the study, which ultimately included responses from almost 2,600 oil customers in Connecticut, Long Island, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island. The results are treasure chests of insights that can help individual companies and industry associations defend their product and customers more effectively. If you own an oil company, work for one or have a stake in the future of the industry, I encourage you to read carefully and share this with as many people in your company as possible. Some of the findings should absolutely change the way we advertise and the way your employees should be talking with customers when it comes to staying with oil. There is too much data to put in one article, so we will be examining aspects in a series. Key Takeaways There were over 50 questions in the survey, which allowed for substantial slicing and dicing of the data to draw correlations. For example, we asked baseline questions to obtain information such as the age of respondents, gender, number of years in their home, how they bought (e.g. pricing programs, service plans, etc.), location of their tank, whether they had another fuel source in their home or available in their area and more. We then cross tabulated these variables against other fac- 4 ICM/Sept/Oct 2015
ICM September-October 2015
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