Research and Markets: Luxury Consumers' Personal Confidence Rose in Fourth Quarter, but Doubts About the Economy as a Whole Kept Luxury Consumption Index Flat
Research and Markets (researchandmarkets. com/reports/c15677) has announced the addition of Luxury Gifting (Luxury Tracking Report 4Q2004)) to their offering.
(PRWEB) April 15, 2005
Research and Markets (http://www. researchandmarkets. com/reports/c15677 (http://www. researchandmarkets. com/reports/c15677)) has announced the addition of Luxury Gifting (Luxury Tracking Report 4Q2004)) to their offering.
In today's hyper-competitive environment, market research is not an option; it is a necessity. Luxury marketers that want to win must stay vigilant in tracking the shifts, turns, and changing preferences in their affluent consumer market. They need up-to-the-minute data, as well as a historical perspective, to anticipate the next major luxury business opportunity or branding challenge.
This report is part of the Luxury Consumer Tracking Service designed for luxury marketers who need to know all there is to know about their consumer market. Beginning in January 2004, and every three months thereafter, the pulse of the affluent consumers in a longitudinal survey of 600-to-750 affluent consumer households has been measured. Every quarter luxuries bought during the past quarter, how much they spent, where they bought, the luxury brands they became aware of and used, and how they felt about their current and prospective financial status was tracked.
Luxury consumers expressed mixed messages about consumer confidence at the beginning of 2005. While luxury consumers (average income $136.5k) felt positive about their personal financial status and spent more on luxuries in the fourth quarter 2004, they expressed strong doubts in the financial well-being of the economy as a whole which held down the Luxury Consumption Index to 95.6 points. That represents a.4 decline from the third quarter and down 7.1 points from 2004's high of 102.7 at the end of the second quarter.
On a year-to-year basis, the Luxury Consumption Index was down 4.4 points at the end of 2004, from its baseline of 100 points in December 2003. The Luxury Consumption Index measures the luxury consumers' feelings and attitudes about their financial well-being. But along with the general malaise felt among many luxury consumers about the future economy over the next twelve months, there were bright spots in this quarter's luxury consumer tracking.
According to the report overall, the demand for luxury goods and services looks good in the short-term, however, the outlook for intermediate-term (beyond six months) looks cloudy due to two factors. One is the uncertainty engendered by the Bush budget, especially the tax outlook. Second, increasing mergers and acquisitions activity in such arenas as telecommunications and pharmaceuticals gives an uncertain employment outlook for thousands of highly-paid executives and administrators in the affected firms.
This benchmark index of luxury buyers is calculated form a sample of over 700 upper-income households throughout the United States. This panel, with household incomes over $75,000 (one-third $150,000 or more) represents one of the largest longitudinal studies of high-end luxury consumption of goods and services. Panelists reported purchasing behavior of luxury goods and services over the past three months, as well as attitudinal and expectation data about luxury brands and categories, their households and the health of the economy in general.
Topics covered in the report include:
-Luxury Gifting
-Luxury Tracking Study Topline Findings: Luxury Consumers' Personal
-Home Luxury Purchases: Detail Findings on Home Luxury Purchases
-Personal Luxury Purchases
-Experiential Luxury Purchases
For more information visit http://www. researchandmarkets. com/reports/c15677 (http://www. researchandmarkets. com/reports/c15677)
Laura Wood
Senior Manager
Research and Markets
Press@researchandmarkets. com
Fax: +353 1 4100 980
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