Who Wants Green Services? Don’t Count Anyone Out!

Twenty-somethings are definitely moving up in importance as PMPs consider the strongest markets for green services. The Gen Z market is virtually tied with the millennial market as being most responsive to green messaging in this year’s PCT Naturals research, at 34 and 35 percent, respectively. Gen Z essentially closed a 12-point gap with the generation just ahead of them this year, reinforcing the notion that younger homeowners are driving demand for natural products and services.

“Younger generations do their research before they call a pest management company, so they are savvy customers who know what they want,” said Toby Crowe of Compass Pest Management. “You better believe they expect you to know what you’re talking about, too!”

It’s understandable that younger individuals and young parents would educate themselves on treatment options that limit their exposure to chemicals, but other generations and demographics are interested in natural treatments, too. PMPs have reported that seniors concerned with their health, as well as others with medical conditions, and people with pets tend to seek out green treatment options. Jake Wasson of STORYSOLD: Pest Control in Boring, Ore., caters to yet another demographic: vegans.

Wasson, who four years ago began promoting his natural wildlife and pest management services on HomeAdvisor and Thumbtack, now relies solely on word-of-mouth and has all the business he can handle. “My customers fall into two categories: (1) vegans and others who are opposed to extermination and/or concerned with the environment, and (2) customers who have been displeased with the work of other pest management companies,” he said. “I just visited an Airbnb yesterday, and the owner had a long list of companies that had come in and used conventional pesticides with unacceptable results. It didn’t take me long to see that the first thing that should have been done was exclusion work, and no one had even proposed that to her.”