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The Dawn Of A New Economy: Latest Findings on the Habits of the Wealthy from The Harrison Group and American Express Publishing

Filed under: Wealth

New research about America's wealthiest consumers was released Tuesday at the American Express Publishing Luxury Summit in Las Vegas. The results confirm that although discretionary spending is growing only modestly, there are changes occurring within the mindsets of today's affluent consumer that can drive America forward in the coming year.

Some of the highlights announced by Dr. Jim Taylor, vice chairman at Harrison Group, and Cara David, Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing & Integrated Media of American Express Publishing, include:

• Luxury consumption to increase by $28 billion
• Affluent and wealthy consumers have become... happier!
• The wealthiest consumers have become... wealthier
• Re-emerging consumers are conducting "Precision-Shopping"
• They are increasingly immune to persuasion
• Xer professionals are now experiencing an "Economic Status Jam"
• Social media remains mainly social, but desire digital information and content is growing... but not at the expense of
traditional media
• Resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, value and needs-based purchasing dominate

These findings come from the 2010 Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America, produced by American Express Publishing and Harrison Group, released on Tuesday. Fielded monthly, 1,910 respondents among the top 10 percent of Americans have been interviewed in 2010 so far. The mean sample household income is $520,000. Each respondent completed a 50-minute questionnaire, covering topics such as shifting attitudes and marketplace priorities, as well as current and anticipated spending on over 18 categories. This is the fourth year of this study, allowing for the tracking of attitudes and behaviors over these difficult years. here the relevant findings:

Tags: affluent, AffluentFamilies, american express publishing, consumers, luxury, shopping mall, spending, wealth

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Young Spenders Lead Luxury Market

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Consumer spending overall might be down (just a 1.3 percent growth rate in the second quarter) but that isn't stopping luxury consumers according to an article in the Chicago Tribune. A survey from Unity Marketing reveals that spending among those with an average income of of $155,000 was up nine percent overall (spending an average of $15,283 on luxury goods and services in the second quarter). Specific categories such as home goods, jewelry and entertainment were all up over 50 percent. The most aggressive spenders are, according to Pamela Danziger of Unity Marketing, the younger, uppermost segments of the luxury spenders. Unity Marketing dubs them the "Want-It-All" generation and reports that luxury shoppers under 40 outspent older shoppers by 39 percent. Inspired perhaps by the conspicuous consumption shown by the celebs in the media like the Beckhams shown here, this group is accustomed to getting what they want without waiting.

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Tags: affluent, money, spending, survey, trends