Research shows millennials present a promising demographic for the propane industry

When you think of millennials, you might think of avocado toast or fancy Starbucks orders. You might think of young professionals working their way up the corporate ladder.

But when millennials think of you – the propane industry – do you know what they think?

That’s one of the questions the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) set out to explore with its recent research on how different generations of Americans perceive propane. With this research, PERC found that the millennial generation – those born from 1981 to 1996 and currently aged 29 to 44 – could be a promising demographic to bring into the propane industry as future customers or employees.

To learn more about the research, LP Gas spoke with Erin Hatcher, senior vice president of communications and marketing at PERC.

Targeting millennials

In Hatcher’s segmentation research, she groups Americans into four categories. The segments ranged from people who are committed to environmental concerns to people who don’t care at all.

The segments are:

• Eco-earnest
• Eco-inclined
• Eco-indifferent
• Eco-apathetic

“We decided the ones we want to talk to are the types that are concerned about the environment and want to do their part,” Hatcher says.

That portion of the spectrum – which includes the “eco-inclined” and “eco-earnest” – covers approximately 40 percent of U.S. adults, ages 18 to 54.

According to Hatcher, the eco-inclined group skews toward baby boomers, who care about environmental issues, but have competing concerns such as healthcare and retirement.

Millennials, on the other hand, form the eco-earnest group, with 44 percent of the generation falling into that segment, the highest of any demographic. And 25 percent of Millennials are in the eco-inclined goup.

“They are putting their money where their mouth is, and they mean it,” Hatcher explains. “They’re willing to put up with some inconvenience to do the right thing by the environment. They grew up with global warming and energy in the news every single day of their lives, so they have a completely different worldview when it comes to energy and its implications on their lives and on the planet.”

Do millennials really understand propane?

Public perceptions around propane remain muddy, especially among younger generations.

One question the survey posed to respondents was, “When you hear the term ‘fossil fuels,’ what type of energy do you think of?”

The survey asked this question twice – once unprompted (without providing fuel options, like a fill-in-the-blank test) and then prompted (with various fuel options provided, like a multiple-choice test). When unprompted, only 3 percent of all respondents and 2 percent of millennials answered “propane.”

“Three percent is kind of consistent with the percent of propane use in the U.S. as an energy source,” Hatcher explains. “We’re a very teeny tiny player, so this isn’t terribly surprising.”

When asked the question again with propane listed as an option, 46 percent of respondents answered that they consider propane to be a fossil fuel, compared to 39 percent of millennials, which was the lowest percentage of any age demographic.

Perceptions of environmental friendliness

When rating propane’s environmental friendliness, Hatcher found, respondents rated propane somewhere in the middle of other energy sources – less environmentally friendly than wind and solar, but more friendly than diesel and gasoline. While far from being perceived as an environmental villain, the rating suggests an opportunity to educate and inform consumers.

Hatcher points out an underlying issue in public perception: “When a lot of people think about it [environmental friendliness], it’s just such a vague term. Are they thinking of pollution? Are they thinking of greenhouse gases?” she asks. “I feel like there are a lot of people who just don’t really have a good idea of what being environmentally friendly actually means.”

Millennials’ belief in reliability and safety

The PERC survey also asked respondents if they thought that propane is a reliable fuel source, and millennials had the most positive response of any age group.

“Their perception of propane reliability is the highest of all,” Hatcher says. “Boomers, oddly, are the lowest.”

What about safety? “All generations have safety concerns about all energy use,” Hatcher says. “It doesn’t matter what it is.”

But millennials and Gen Z were the least concerned about the safety of propane, specifically.

Energy choice, affordability and diversity

Two themes cut across generations in the research – the importance of consumer choice and affordability in an energy source. Among respondents, two of the “top beliefs” were that “Americans should have a choice when it comes to their energy sources” and that “All Americans deserve affordable access to the energy they need to power their homes and appliances.”

Energy choice was right up there with diversity and affordability, with millennials reporting the highest response rate when asked about the importance of having diverse energy sources to heat and power their homes.

“Energy diversity and choice are really important,” Hatcher says. “Millennials place greater importance on energy diversity than the other generations.”

As Hatcher points out, this trend “is typically American. We are all about choice.”

The importance of energy choice is fitting, as the propane industry has spent years advocating for energy choice legislation at events like the National Propane Gas Association’s Propane Days.

Of course, Americans valuing affordability is something the propane industry can capitalize on, too.

Another finding in Hatcher’s research was that the type of energy now influences home purchases.

“We learned that the type of energy used to heat the home was the most important when buying a home,” she says.

Energy efficiency leads the way for new builds and renovations. Millennials and Gen X are most motivated by energy efficiency, with Hatcher noting that “75 percent of millennials” would consider efficiency in any home to be important.

Advice for retailers: Hire millennials

So, with this information, how can propane marketers connect with younger consumers? Hatcher has two words: “Hire them. They’re smart, they’re educated, they’re going to be propane ambassadors. Hire them.”

The idea is that it’s not just enough to market and advertise to millennial consumers. If a propane retailer recruits and hires a millennial, that millennial will learn so much about the propane industry and can become an advocate for the industry, preaching the positives of propane to the people in their life.

“I feel like for any business to thrive, you have to hire youth,” Hatcher says. “I mean, who’s going to challenge your thinking? Who’s going to elevate pretty much every aspect of your technological footprint? You get a digital native, they’re going to bring fresh thinking, right? They’re going to challenge everything and make you better.”

A place for every energy

In Hatcher’s view, propane can have a place in millennials’ lives. It can be part of the energy conversation.

“I think the bottom line is, there is a place for all types of energy, and the roles just may be different,” she says. “Just pick the best one, the cleanest one, for the need. So that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to get people who care, who are interested in protecting the environment, who are interested in energy and have an appetite to learn about it.”

Hatcher’s team is spreading the word.

“We try to share the information about propane, about its benefits,” she says. “It has a role to play in the wide path to a low-carbon future.”

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