Trusted Media Brands has released one of the first reports from its Insights Lab on family and home behavior to inform brands of growing trends in the modern American family.

“Trusted Media Brands has always been at the forefront of understanding changing family dynamics — across generations, attitudes, values and priorities,” stated Bonnie Kintzer, president-CEO of Trusted Media Brands. “As modern families continue to evolve, so too should brands’ marketing approach. This study identifies the unified themes that impact how modern families spend their time and money.”

In partnership with Kantar Consulting, Trusted Media Brands — which publishes Reader's Digest, Family Handyman and Taste of Home — released the first of a three-part research series on “The Modern Family.”

The initial findings are on “home-basing,” a term coined by Trusted Media Brands to represent the 80% of families in the study that would rather stay in with their families than go out. Almost the same percentage (78%) of millennials are also homebodies, the study found.

Created in April, the Trusted Media Brands Insights Lab aims to provide brand marketers with consumer data, B2B insights and marketing trends.

“Over the past several years, we have invested and grown [our consumer] database to include proprietary research on the trends reshaping the marketing landscape, especially with shifts impacting digital marketers,” Kintzer stated at the time.

According to the home-basing study, “the desire for comfort, connection, and quality time are driving deeper investments in home-based experiences that go beyond Netflix and Amazon Prime.”

Families are increasingly looking to improve their home space, cook together and take part in communal activities, the study found, impacting industries such as entertainment. Movie attendance is at its lowest level since 1995, while entertainment spending in the home (such as streaming services) has grown 11% since 2016.

The findings also have an effect on restaurants: 82% of American meals are prepared at home; 91% of families, regardless of generation, claim that eating and cooking together is a top priority, according to the study.

And 72% of families in the study have an “always on” attitude toward home improvement and are “always seeking to improve our home.” Home-remodeling expenditures are expected to rise 7% through 2019.

Nearly 80% of families are setting aside time at home for family activities, from board games (83%) to doing chores together (66%).

For millennials, video games (69%) and group exercise (70%) are favored quality-time activities.

“With anxiety rising and cultural concerns growing, Americans are looking to relax, take it slow, and sink into their sanctuaries at home,” according to the study. “Brands that deliver comfortable, safe experiences to modern families that connect them with other family members and close confidants are set to succeed."

Brands that enable individual family members to express themselves "in a more flexible, dynamic home environment" are likely to succeed in the future marketplace, as are brands tapping into activities like cooking, DIY or home-based experiences, such as board games.

"As digital tools and technology proliferate, modern families are seeking more face-to-face, collaborative and visceral experiences," according to the study.

The research data in the study comes from a custom, online survey of 3,500 American adults in families (defined as two or more adults living in a household, with at least one being a family member or spouse), 250 digital interviews with 50 family households and annual and quarterly surveys from Kantar Consulting’s U.S. Monitor, which produces insights about the changing attitudes, values and lifestyle of the American consumer.

The two other studies in this series will focus on cultural exchange and digital connection.

This summer, the Insights Lab also conducted a study on how the GDPR and other industry trends are impacting programmatic advertising.