One in three consumers are Solo, yet many brands still design products, pricing and advertising around couples and nuclear families, according to new research from The Research Agency (TRA). The Solo consumer study, based on quantitative and qualitative research with more than 2,006 people across Australia and New Zealand in October 2026, found that 36% of people are not currently in a relationship.
Being Solo is particularly common among younger adults, with 43% of 18 to 34-year-olds Solo, compared with 35% of those aged 35 to 54 and 31% of people aged 55 and over, TRA reports. The findings challenge the assumption that being single is mainly a temporary stage before partnering. Only 6% of Solos are actively looking for a partner, while just over one-third actively choose to be single and want to remain that way.
Independence, not loneliness
Solos are more likely than partnered people to associate single life with independence, freedom and flexibility, the study found. Yet a perception gap persists: 61% of Solos believe society sees single people as lonely, while only 44% of people in relationships actually associate being single with loneliness. In other words, the stigma is stronger in Solo people’s expectations than in other people’s views — but it still shapes how brands talk to them.
TRA says brands risk reinforcing that disconnect when advertising presents Solo life only as a problem to solve, a temporary stage or a dating journey before becoming a couple. A single-person household buying a smaller fridge, a solo traveller booking a single room, or a single diner ordering for one is not waiting to become a household of two. They are a customer now, with needs that differ by life stage and circumstance.
What brands get wrong
The commercial mistakes are practical, not just tonal. Single-serve pricing that charges a premium for one, hotel rooms priced for two, meal kits built for couples, and family-size packs with no smaller option all penalise Solo buyers. So do ads that only show Solo life as sad, lonely or incomplete. Daniel Talbot, TRA’s group business director and innovation lead, said the opportunity begins with abandoning the idea of a single “single consumer” and understanding how needs change by life stage.
Talbot said Solos are a substantial, diverse consumer group, not a niche audience waiting to become a household of two or more. That diversity matters: a 25-year-old renter, a 45-year-old divorcee and a 70-year-old widow are all Solo, but their incomes, homes and priorities differ completely. A brand that designs for one of them and assumes it serves all three will miss two of them.
Designing for Solo life properly
The fix is straightforward. Offer genuine single-person sizes without a penalty price, show Solo life as normal and enjoyable in advertising, and let customers choose household size rather than assuming it. Travel, food, housing and finance brands that do this first will win loyalty from a group that currently feels overlooked. Solo is not a waiting room. For more than a third of consumers, it is simply life — and they are spending accordingly.
