Affluent Consumer Tracking Study

DUBLIN, Feb. 21, 2014
/PRNewswire/ --Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/twx9ht/affluent_consumer) has announced the addition of the "Affluent Consumer Tracking Study" subscription to their offering.

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A quarterly report about what products and brands luxury consumers are buying and how much they spend on luxuries

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. Unity Marketing's Affluent Consumer Tracking Study (previously call the Luxury Consumer Tracking Service) is designed for marketers who need to understand the mindset, purchase behavior and psychology of the affluent consumer segment.

Launched in January 2004, and every three months thereafter, Measure the pulse of the affluent consumers in a longitudinal survey of 1,250+ affluent consumer households. Each quarter ACTS reports what luxuries they 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.

Unity Marketing's LCI gives marketers a forward-looking indicator about direction of the economy

Based upon the results of the survey, Unity Marketing also publishes a Luxury Consumption Index (LCI) which tracks how luxury consumers feel and helps marketers anticipate consumers spending in the coming quarters. As a marketer, you look for competitive advantage. What you really need is a look over the horizon, a way to predict economic ups and downs before they occur and before your competition knows to react.

That view is available in Unity Marketing's Luxury Consumption Index, a measure of attitudes, purchases and spending of the affluent consumer - the economy's heavy lifter segment which accounts for only 20 percent of households, but over 40 percent of spending. This index has proven incredibly predictive of larger events in the economy as a whole, in addition to serving as a finger on the pulse of the luxury market. For example:

LCI predicted the recession one-to-two quarters before the 'pain' was felt by marketers - The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) declared, approximately a year after the event, that the most recent economic recession began in December, 2007. The LCI anticipated the beginning of this slump as it turned sharply downward starting in the 2Q2007 through 4Q2007. The LCI gave marketers advance warning of the coming shift in consumer sentiment.

LCI tracked the recovery ahead of the economic experts - The LCI indicated that the economy hit its lowest point between the fourth quarter 2008 and first quarter 2009, with a slow recovery through 2009 and into early 2010. This rise anticipated the NBER declaration of the recession's end that they announced in September 2010. Followers of the LCI would have had advanced noticed of the upturn and been ready to act.

In 2012 the LCI forecasts another contraction - Most importantly, quarter to quarter the LCI has tracked the closely-watched expansion and contraction of GDP as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, with LCI data typically available before GDP numbers are reported.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/twx9ht/affluent_consumer

Media Contact: Laura Wood , +353-1-481-1716, press@researchandmarkets.net