Hot Tub Life Articles

Who Owns Hot Tubs ?

March 1997

Welcome to the March Edition of Hot Tub Life ! And a special "Hello" to all of our new friends from the Internet. Over the past few months we have gained many new customers from all over the country. We thought it might be fun to check out a few interesting facts about exactly who owns hot tubs and how they use them.

A recent poll of spa owners showed that 88% are married and 61% have no children under the age of 18 living at home. Their salaries average $66,500 with 49% falling between $40,000 and $75,000. 44% hold managerial or professional jobs.

Two-thirds of spa owners have friends who also own spas. When asked where they got information during their spa buying process, 72% noted dealers, 67% looked to spa ads and 61% talked to friends. The most important spa issues to owners were reliability and brand name, price, comfort and number of jets. Surprisingly, research indicated that men were the catalyst for the spa purchase among 45% of spa owners (previously, woman accounted for over 80% of the spa purchase motivation).

The most compelling spa benefit for those under 45 years of age is relaxation. For those over 55, it is therapy. Only 12 percent cited socializing as the major reason for getting a spa.

The top barriers to purchase were cost, the image of spas as luxuries and not necessities, a lack of perceived value and the fact that spas were not used by their friends or not even generally considered as a possible purchase within their peer group.

Interestingly, 25% of those polled indicated that they "never" use their spas, although they keep them filled and heated !

Where do most people have their spas ? 59% said that they put the spa in an existing space (22% of the time in a wooden deck) while 41% go in a new space created for the unit (21% of the time in or on a new deck).

How many spas are out there ? Well, no one really knows for sure because you do not need a building permit to install a spa in most cases. However the best estimates are that in 1991 there were 180,000 portable units sold in the USA, in 1992 - 204,000, in 1993 - 225,000, in both 1994 and 1995 there were 260,000 per year sold, and sales for 1996 are estimated to be 255,000.

These customer demographics and sales estimates were provided by Ken Wolf of ICI Acrylics and appeared in the December Issue of the trade publication of Pool & Spa News.

So, are you the "typical" spa owner or a rebel ? Either way, the one common thread among most spa owners is that they absolutely LOVE their tubs !