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80% of Affluent Consumers Use Social Media

MarketResearch.com has announced the addition of Unity Marketing Inc.'s new report "How the Affluent Luxury Consumer Uses the Internet and Social Media: An In-Depth Profile," to their collection of Lifestye & Economics market reports. For more information, visit http://www.marketresearch.com/redirect.asp?progid=67618&productid=2605678.

A new trend report finds that affluents are active users of social media and they spend on average more than 4 hours shopping online.

Unity Marketing has just released a new trend report on the affluent luxury consumer and how they use the Internet and social media in support of their luxury lifestyles.

This 59-page trend report, titled "How Affluent Luxury Consumers Use the Internet and Social Media," is based upon a survey of 1,614 affluent consumers (ag. income $239,300). It answers these critical questions for luxury marketers in order to plan their online marketing strategies, including how best to use social media for building their brand:

--  How often do affluent consumers use the Internet in support of luxury
    goods and services purchases, what do they buy online, how much do they
    spend?
--  When do they turn to the Internet and why they use it?
--  What are their favorite luxury websites and what specifically do they
    value about their favorite websites?
--  How do affluent luxury shoppers use social media to learn about luxury
    brands, share information about luxury brands, and connect with people
    with similar outlooks on luxury brands?
--  What turns them on about using the Internet for luxury purchasing and
    research?

A total of 1,614 affluent consumers with incomes of $100,000 or more and who bought luxury goods or services in the fourth quarter were surveyed from January 8-27, 2010. The results of this survey are compared with findings from similar studies conducted in third quarter of 2007 and 2005, so that four years of trends in luxury consumers' use of the Internet can be measured and tracked.

In addition, a segment of extremely active Internet shoppers have been identified in this study. A detailed analysis of their responses are included in this report.

The special investigation questions designed to help luxury marketers and brands better use their websites to attract and retain the affluent shoppers, included:

--  How affluents use the internet (e.g. shopping, researching purchases,
    getting gift ideas, connecting with friend, travel plans, etc.); total
    hours on a weekly basis they use the internet for personal interests
    and shopping-related activities.
--  More about internet shopping, such as what attracts them to a website
    to shop; how much they spent online; features of importance when
    shopping online; what features a website devoted to luxury brands must
    offer its customers.
--  How online shopping compares to in-store, whether the affluents
    surveyed like online better than in-store or vice versa. The results
    will surprise you!
--  On social media, whether they have profiles on any social media site;
    which social media site they use most often; how frequently they log
    on; how many people they are connected with; why they use social media,
    such as to reconnect with old friends, professional networking, to
    learn about brands/companies/products, etc.
--  If they were connected or friends with any brand and if they were
    likely to become friends in the future; about use of advertising on
    social media sites; and use of social shopping sites such as Gilt.com,
    Hautelook, Rue LaLa.

Demographics of those Surveyed

In the survey the average age of respondents was 45.9 years and average household income was $239,300. Nearly 20% of the affluents polled were classified as 'ultra-affluents,' those at the top 2% of U.S. households with incomes of $250,000.

Virtually all respondents use the internet for personal uses, including shopping. Further, nearly 80% of affluents are social media users.

A segment called 'heavy-users' were identified as important for luxury marketers when planning internet and social media strategy. The heavy users are affluents who used the internet for four or more hours per week for shopping purposes.

For more information, visit http://www.marketresearch.com/redirect.asp?progid=67618&productid=2605678.