Luxury Report 2010

Unity Marketing Inc.
May 1, 2010
400 Pages - SKU: UM2692450
License type:
Table of Contents Search inside this report Related Reports
Unity Marketing's Luxury Report 2010 is the ultimate guide to the U.S. market for luxury goods and experiences. This report focuses on the buying and spending habits of the nation's affluent households -- the top quintile or 20 percent of U.S. consumer households -- of high-end or luxury products and services. It reports trends in luxury consumer purchases from 2007 through 2009.

The Luxury Report examines consumers' buying behavior and spending habits related to four key categories of luxury:
  • Home Luxuries, such as kitchen appliances, bath fixtures, art and antiques, furniture, tabletop, decorative home furnishings, electronics and more
  • Personal Luxuries, including fashion, beauty, jewelry and watches
  • Automobiles
  • Experiential Luxuries, such as travel, fine dining, entertainment, spa and beauty services.
The report contains details on 22 luxury product and services bought by affluent consumers, including annual spending, where these products were purchased and details of the types of products and services bought.

The Luxury Report 2010 is written by Pam Danziger, one of the nation's leading expert on the luxury market and is based upon the kind of in-depth consumer research for which Pam Danziger and Unity Marketing are known.

Guides luxury marketers to shifts and changes in their target customers' attitudes and shopping behavior

This report provides vital data about what luxuries affluents are buying, how much they are spending, where they are making their purchases and what brands they favor. This report provides invaluable information about the mindset, attitudes and spending habits of the affluent consumers that luxury marketers target. This is not just report about people with high incomes, but affluents who buy luxury goods and services.

More importantly it gives marketers an analytic view of the luxury consumer market going in and coming out of the recession.

Luxury Marketers: This is a report about your customers & your target customers

The Luxury Report 2010 is a compilation of the quarterly luxury tracking surveys that Unity Marketing conducts every three months with 1,000-1,250 affluent consumers who purchased one or more luxuries in the study period. Unity's luxury tracking study is the only longitudinal study of its kind that tracks the luxury consumer market, what they buy, how much they spend. The survey sample of 4,739 luxury consumers surveyed in 2009 with an average income of about $220,200 is representative of the 22 million affluent households in the country.

More details about products and brands included in Luxury Report 2010

Details about what these luxury consumers bought, how much they spent, where they made their purchases, and in certain categories the luxury brands they patronized are reported in four major categories of luxury. Significantly more product categories and more brands were included in the latest surveys, notably:

Home Luxuries
  • Art and Antiques (Specific data is collected on already-framed reproductions; unframed reproductions; custom-framed art or reproductions; other custom framing; original art; sculpture, statues, 3D art; antique furniture and collectibles; wall decor)
  • Home Electronics (Desktop Computers; televisions; DVD/video players; audio equipment; home entertainment systems)
  • Furniture, Lamps and Floor Coverings (Lamps and lighting; upholstered furniture; wooden furniture; rugs and floor coverings)
  • Garden and Outdoor (Patio furniture; grills; lighting accents; fencing; power gardening equipment; decorative pots; garden statues; chimeneas and outdoor stoves; garden shelters; water gardens; porch and patio decorative accents)
  • Home Decorating Fabrics, Wall and Window Coverings (Wall coverings, such as wall paper; ready-made curtains, drapes; window coverings, such as blinds, shades; home decorating fabrics for custom upholstery, curtains, drapes, etc.)
  • Kitchen Appliances, Bathroom Equipment and Building Products (Kitchen appliances, such as stoves, ovens, refrigerators; bathroom equipment, such as tubs, showers, toilets, fixtures; kitchen equipment, such as cabinets, countertops; air conditioning/filtration systems; water systems)
  • Kitchenware, Cookware, Housewares (Small appliances; cookware; bakeware; cutlery; storage and organization; barware)
  • Linens and Beddings (Sheets and pillowcases; comforters, spreads; pillows and pillow accents; bath linens; mattresses and box springs; duvets and shams; feather beds and mattress covers; table linens)
  • Tabletop, Dinnerware, Stemware, Flatware (Dinnerware, including fine china, ceramic or stoneware, serving ware and decorative accents; crystal and glassware decoratives, stem ware, serving pieces, barware; flatware, including sterling silver flatware, serving pieces, decorative accents and other flatware)
Personal Luxuries
  • Clothing and Apparel (Women's casual, dress/business, formal/evening, outerwear; men's casual, dress/business, formal/evening, outerwear; teen's clothing; children's clothing; baby clothing)
  • Cosmetics, Fragrance and Beauty Products (Fragrances, perfumes; bath and body lotions; face care; hair care; cosmetics and makeup; sun and tanning products)
  • Fashion Accessories (Women's handbags, shoes, brief cases, and fashion accessories, such as scarves, belts; men's wallets, brief cases and men's fashion accessories, including shoes, belts, etc.; luggage for men and women)
  • Jewelry (Women's and men's jewelry by type, including necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, bridal/wedding, pins and brooches; women's and men's jewelry by material, including 14k and above gold, sterling silver, platinum, gold plate or vermeil, costume jewelry; and women's and men's jewelry by stone, including diamonds, other precious gemstones, semi-precious gemstones, pearl, faux or man-made, no gemstone content)
  • Watches (Women's and men's watches by style, including formal/dress or casual/sports)
  • Wine, Liquor and Spirits (Wine, champagne, vodka, whiskey, rum, scotch, cognac, bourbon, sherry/port)
  • Personal Electronics (iPods and other MP3 devices; cameras; cellular phones; laptop computers & notebooks; PDA's)
Automobiles (Euro, Asian and U.S luxury models)

Experiential Luxuries
  • Dining
  • Entertainment
  • Home Services (House cleaning/maid; lawn care; landscaping; party planning/catering; home decorator/designer; pet care; pool maintenance)
  • Spa, Massage, Beauty and Cosmetic Services
  • Travel (Foreign and domestic luxury hotels, commercial air, resorts, cruises, group tours, adventure travel, private air travel)
Provides marketers with facts and data that support strategic decisions

Now you can make critical business decisions based upon facts -- not beliefs, assumptions or fantasies

This report provides the facts and figures you need to develop winning marketing and business strategies. By working with the facts, not fantasies, you have a much better chance of success marketing to the luxury consumers. This report gives you a horizontal view of the luxury market, recognizing that luxury marketers compete not just with companies within their vertical product niche, but across all luxury categories as well.

Within each category of luxury, the key drivers for purchase are studied, such as role of luxury brand in purchase decision; the influence of sales price on purchase; where the shopper bought their last luxury; why they bought luxuries; whether their luxury purchases were made a gifts; and other motivational factors.

New data points enhance marketers understanding of their consumers

Spending is now provided at the product and retailer levels within each major category of luxury

Enhancing this year's Luxury Report 2010 are new data points that enhance luxury marketers' understanding of where affluent's money is being spent and how it is changing from year to year. It contains data about the average amount spent within a particular product category, such as Luxury Fashion Accessories, and within the category to the average amount spent on women's shoes or women's handbags, for example. It enables marketers to identify what products are up and down within their product category. To see a sample of the biggest winners and losers in the home luxury market, click this link.

Further this report provides an estimate within product category of how the consumers' share of wallet is divided based upon type of store. So you can tell when affluent shoppers are shifting their spending out of one retailing segment and into another. For example, this year affluents spent less of their fashion accessories budgets in department stores and more in specialty fashion boutiques.

This report doesn't stop with the data -- It pushes further to help marketers and retailers put the information to use

Translate the data into information that marketing executives can use to make critical strategic decisions

This market research report helps make the research data and findings accessible and useable. It provides marketers with three powerful perspectives: "The What", "So What" and "Now What." This report is filled with advice and guidance for luxury marketers to take action on the research findings revealed.

Special feature: Find out which of the five different types of luxury consumers are your best customers A special feature in Unity Marketing's Luxury Report 2010 is a psychographic profile of five key types of luxury consumers. These include:
  • X-Fluents (Extremely Affluent) who spend the most on luxury and are most highly invested in luxury living;
  • Butterflies, the most highly evolved luxury consumers who have emerged from their luxury cocoons with a passion to reconnect with the outside world. Powered by a search for meaning and new experiences, the butterflies have the least materialistic orientation among the segments, yet they spend nearly as much as the X-Fluents on luxury;
  • Luxury Cocooners who are focused on hearth and home. They spend most of their luxury budgets on home-related purchases;
  • Aspirers, those luxury consumers who have not yet achieved the level of luxury to which they aspire. They are highly attuned to brands and believe luxury is best expressed in what they buy and what they own.
  • Temperate Pragmatist a newly emerged luxury consumer who is not all that involved in the luxury lifestyle. As their name implies, they are careful spenders and not given to luxury indulgence.
Special investigations into luxury consumer market

Each quarter Unity Marketing's luxury tracking survey conducts a special investigation into topics of interest to luxury marketers. Included in the Luxury Report 2010 are results of the following special investigations conducted in 2008 and 2009:
  • Forecasts for Luxury Travel through 2010 -- Affluent's travel plans for both business and personal travel, travel choices, experiences most desired, hotel features of importance and brand preferences
  • Luxury consumers and their luxurious homes -- What they have, what they own, what they buy, plans on remodeling and redecorating.
  • Luxury consumers and their charitable giving -- Investigates how affluent consuemrs are giving back to make the world a better place for us all.
  • Luxury consumers and the current economic crisis --Learn about the changes luxury consumers are making to their luxury lifestyles and their shopping behavior in response to the current economic crisis.
  • Luxury consumers and green marketing -- What role does the green marketing practices of retailers and brands play on the luxury consumer and their buying behavior.
  • Loyalty marketing and the luxury consumer -- Research into the participation of luxury consumers into loyalty programs and how marketers can create more effective loyalty programs targeting the luxury consumer.
Please note: You will also receive a free copy of Unity trend report: How Affluent Luxury Consumers Use the Internet & Social Media.



Additional Information

Press Release

Unity Marketing's Annual State of the Luxury Market Report Is Published

Latest report gives marketers the data they need to track trends in the luxury consumer market and plan new strategies to succeed despite the recession

Stevens, PA May 7, 2010 -- Unity Marketing has just published its annual report on the state of the luxury market. The Luxury Report 2010: the Ultimate Guide to the Luxury Consumer Market, provides detail data about the purchase behavior and spending patterns of the nation's most affluent consumers from 2007 through 2009. In addition to its focus on historical shifts and trends in the luxury consumer market, it gives marketers a forward-look into the future trajectory of the affluent consumer that will transform the luxury market in 2010 and beyond.

Latest report gives marketers the data they need to track trends and plan new strategies to succeed after the recession

"We designed the Luxury Report 2010 as both a powerful desk reference and a source for insight into the future trends in the luxury market. The new report provides the kind of detailed facts and figures about trends in the luxury consumer market that will delight data-driven executives. But it also focuses on the mindset and attitudes of the luxury consumer, making it an invaluable tool for luxury brand executives to plan for the future of their changing marketplace," says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and lead analyst for the new luxury market study.

A total of 4,739 luxury consumers were surveyed in 2009 with an average income of about $220,200.

Highlights reported in the latest Luxury Report 2010 include:
• Dramatic increase in consumer spending on luxury goods -- Average spending by luxury consumers increased nearly 30 percent, with over 50 percent increase in spending on home and personal luxuries and a nearly 20 percent increase in spending in automobiles over 2008 levels. Recording the highest rates of growth in spending in 2009 were luxury linens and bedding, wine and spirits and art and antiques.
• Spending on experiences declined below 2008 levels -- Affluents spent less on experiences in 2009 than they did in 2008, down 8 percent overall. While the average number of trips taken in 2009 rose, spending on travel declined, suggesting that affluents took advantage of favorable discount offers that let them travel for less.
• Participation in the luxury economy overall is down in 2009 -- While spending on luxury rose sharply in 2009, those increases were driven by the much smaller, ultra-affluent segment (HHI $250,000 and above) of the economy. Actual levels of participation in the luxury market, as measured by overall purchase incidence, was down dramatically in 2009, as compared with 2006 pre-recession levels.

Net/Net: Luxury marketers have fewer customers in 2009 than they had prior to the recession.

The actual number of customers of luxury goods and services declined sharply throughout the recessionary period staring in 2007 through 2009. So far there are no signs that the customers who dropped out of the luxury market as a result of the recession have returned.

Here is the real and painful story about fewer luxury consumers in the market at the close of 2009. For example:
•In 2006 some 52 percent of all affluent consumers bought any home luxury, as compared with only 41 percent in 2009;
• In 2006 some 54 percent bought any personal luxury. This dropped ten percentage points to only 44 percent in 2009;
• In 2006 60 percent of affluent households enjoyed luxury experiences; in 2009 only 45 percent participated in experiential luxuries.
• Only two product categories have retained the same share of customers in 2009 as in 2006 -- Only in automobiles and kitchen appliances, bath and building products has the share of luxury consumers who purchased remained stable, 10 percent and 14 percent respectively.

In all other categories, declines in consumer participation are noted with fine dining, luxury clothing and apparel and luxury travel purchases losing the largest share of affluent consumers.

 

Share this report


Other tasks

 
 

Research Assistance

Ask a question
 

Related Markets


General Product Consumption Reports

 
 

Free Alert Me service

Receive bi-weekly email alerts on new market research

Sign Up Today!