The Einhell Do-It-Yourself Study 2023: “How DIY-minded are the Germans?”
“Doing it yourself is a matter of honor”: That’s what 70 percent of people in Germany say about DIY. It’s also one of the central findings of the Einhell Do-It-Yourself Study 2023. Einhell Germany AG, the leading manufacturer of garden and DIY tools, joined forces with the SINUS Institute to conduct a representative survey of more than 2,000 participants exploring what the German population think about jobs at home and in the garden. The Einhell DIY Index, which measures the DIY affinity of the German population in a single figure, was also brought into being in the same context. It currently stands at 62 out of 100.
Germany is a nation of DIYers
Interest in DIY in Germany is high, according to one of the key findings of the Einhell Do-It-Yourself Study 2023. But what motivates the population in Germany to do it for themselves? And what puts them off? How do they rate their own DIY skills? What role do cordless tools play in this? The Einhell DIY Study gives comprehensive answers to these and other questions.
“In the Delphi study entitled “The 2030 Home” that we conducted in 2021, we discovered that a large proportion of Germans are very interested in sprucing up their own four walls. With this DIY study 2023, we as the leading supplier of garden and DIY tools want to drill down this attitude and analyze it in more detail,” says Andreas Kroiss, CEO of Einhell Germany AG, on the background to the representative survey.
The German population is highly motivated to do little jobs around the home and garden themselves, with more than half of Germans enjoying spending time DIYing and gardening and always on the lookout for new projects. The great majority tackle such jobs on a regular basis. Gardening tasks are the more frequent, and actually more popular than DIY activities: 56 percent agree with the statement “I enjoy spending time doing DIY” and 69 percent with the statement “I enjoy spending time gardening”. Electric and battery-operated tools play an important role in both DIY and garden jobs, three in four of those surveyed reaching for them always or at least sometimes.
DIY motives: Self-fulfillment and relaxation
There is much to be said in favor of doing it yourself in the home and garden. The primary motives given for such activities, according to the Einhell Do-It-Yourself Study 2023, are independence, relaxation, self-fulfillment, and self-affirmation. Apart from lack of time, those questioned had little against DIY activities.
The majority of people in Germany reckon they have some DIY skills. Although they enjoy DIY, on average they rate their own DIY skills as moderate. Personal ability in gardening is rated somewhat better than DIY skills. Asked about their own aptitude for DIY, men are more self-confident than women, who in turn are more motivated when they get to work. There are no gender differences when it comes to an assessment of their own gardening skills, however. As for improving their DIY abilities, video tutorials (especially for the younger respondents) and advice from friends and acquaintances are the go-to options.
The younger generation makes more use of cordless tools
Older respondents are still somewhat cautious about buying cordless tools, a cordless (drill) driver being the tool most often used and owned. The younger generation is much more open to batteries: They are more often willing to spend greater amounts on cordless tools and, in contrast to their older counterparts, already tend to own more battery-operated than corded or petrol-driven tools. When it comes to buying tools for DIY and gardening, particular attention is paid to the aspects of long product life, user friendliness and handling, the life of cordless tools, price, quality, and performance.
“There aren’t many studies covering DIY in Germany. Determining the motives of the German population on the subject of DIY was a very interesting experience for us. One of the innovative outcomes of this study is the DIY index created in consultation with Einhell. It illustrates the DIY affinity of the population and hence opens up the possibility of obtaining comparative measurements in the future,” says Dr. Marc Calmbach, managing director of the SINUS Institute and project leader of the study.
The Einhell DIY Index as a key performance indicator for the sector
The SINUS Institute and Einhell Germany AG developed the Einhell DIY Index in order to give a snap summary of the affinity of Germans with doing-it-yourself in a single figure. It comprises three dimensions of equal weighting: Interest in DIY, frequency of DIY activity, and subjective assessment of DIY skills.
Based on the first survey, the DIY affinity of the German population stands at 62 out of a possible 100 points. People in the middle age group of 30 to 49 years have the greatest DIY affinity (65 %).
“The findings confirm our existing assessment that do-it-yourself is held in high regard in the German population. Now that we have calculated the Einhell DIY Index for the first time, we have a way of monitoring the development of this trend in the future,” Andreas Kroiss adds.
About Einhell Germany AG
Einhell is a leading manufacturer of state-of-the-art tools and devices for the house and garden and will be celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2024. From its headquarters in Landau/Isar (Bavaria), the internationally successful company has continuously expanded its innovative rechargeable battery platform Power X-Change and is now the market leader in the area of cordless tools and garden devices. For many years Einhell has set new standards in terms of endurance, performance, and safety. Einhell customers appreciate the freedom of cordless operation for all their DIY projects, as well as the excellent value for money that Einhell products represent and the first-class customer service offered by the company.