Fourth report reveals Affluents prefer luxury travel experiences over luxury goods; women are more likely to want to explore than men; and 50% more are willing to spend on leisure activities than a year ago
NEW YORK – For Affluents, travel trumps bling. A whopping 80% would choose a luxury experience over a luxury item, according to The Martini Report, Volume 4: The Affluent Traveler. The report was released by Martini Media, the leader in engaging affluent audiences online, acquired by Evolve Media, LLC this summer. The report is the fourth volume in a series of studies and reveals that the affluent traveler likes to spend money on new experiences, seeks adventure and culture and is digitally grounded. The proprietary study was conducted in collaboration with Ipsos Connect, a firm recognized for its expertise in research on affluent consumers and luxury markets.
@MartiniMediaInc Releases New Martini Report with Insights into the Mind of the Affluent Traveler
The Martini Report, Volume 4: The Affluent Traveler details the online behavior of three key segments of the Affluent Market: the Hyper Affluent, 3% of Americans with at least $250,000 in annual household income; the Mass Affluent, one quarter of the U.S. population who falls in the $100,000-$249,000 income range; and the Emerging Affluent, aged 18-39, with household income in the $75,000-$249,000 range.
“The memories made from one-of-a-kind travel experiences are something that money cannot buy,” said Vincent Krsulich, Senior Vice President of Sales at Martini Media, an Evolve Media company. “The Martini Report showed that while older Affluents are more interested in relaxing with family while on vacation and younger Affluents actively seek out new experiences to learn about other cultures, they have one thing in common: Affluents would rather spend money on vacation than on material possessions, and the amount of time and money they plan to spend is expected to increase over the coming year.”
Key findings include:
- Affluents choose experiences over material goods: When asked how they would spend $5000, 87% of respondents said they’d rather put the money towards a vacation than a watch or piece of jewelry, demonstrating that experiences are vitally important to Affluents.
- Affluents prefer the comfort and amenities of the hotel experience: As home sharing gains in popularity, Affluents are not as eager to join the trend. A strong majority (75%) prefer staying in a hotel versus renting a home because of their high expectations for service, amenities and brand reputation.
- Travel planning is a highly considered activity: Almost half of all Affluents begin planning 6 months before the vacation, but may not actually finalize their choices until less than 3 months prior to their trip.
- Hyper Affluents mix business with pleasure: Hyper Affluents often piggyback personal travel with business travel – 53% said they did so in the past year. All other segments hover around 38%. In addition, 90% of total Affluents said they had some influence over their airline and hotel bookings for business travel.
- Digital media is central to Affluent travel research: Affluents are spending over 12 hours researching travel online across devices. Value-driven Affluent Millennials prefer booking through an online travel agency (57%) while most Hyper Affluents would rather book directly with hotels and airlines (56%).
- Different Affluent segments prefer different locations: The continental United States is the most popular summer vacation destination for all Affluents, followed by Europe and the Caribbean. In addition, women are more likely to want to explore than men as 84% said they are more likely to travel to new destinations versus familiar locales, compared to 70% of men.
Buoyed by economic optimism and a growing interest in experiences, one in five Affluents plan to travel more this year compared to 19% who will travel less. Brands that can contribute to an enhanced travel experience for Affluents can build loyalty and become a part of the vacation memories that Affluents are looking for.
“Affluents devote a significant amount of time and money to travel,” said Geoff Schiller, Chief Revenue Officer at Evolve Media, parent company of Martini Media, TotallyHer and CraveOnline. “Advertisers should take advantage of this growing market in part by further marketing their unique and customized experiences in line with the research and booking trends for this lucrative audience.”
Methodology: The Martini Report is an innovative tracking study that details the role of the internet in Affluent lives and Affluent spending. This paper is the fourth in a series, and is based on an online survey conducted by Ipsos Connect in April 2015 with 875 respondents. The data were weighted to reflect Census demographic targets to maximize the representation of the study’s sample. “Affluent” is defined as adults with at least $100,000 in annual household income; just 23% of the population, Affluents account for 74% of U.S. net worth, and a majority of the dollars spent in many marketplace categories. The study also included a limited sample of Aspiring Affluents ($75-99K HHI). A full White Paper detailing the findings is available upon request.
About Evolve Media LLC.:
Evolve Media is a publisher of leading enthusiast lifestyle destinations for men and women. Leveraging proprietary advertising and publishing technologies, as well as hundreds of talented content professionals, Evolve Media offers premium and engaging content to its readers, while offering marketers the tools needed to execute custom, content-led marketing solutions that reach its audience of over 95 million people globally each month. Our mission is simple; we create the content people are passionate about. Follow Evolve Media on Twitter at @EvolveMedia_LLC and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evolvemediallcpublishing.
About Martini Media:
Acquired by Evolve Media in 2015, Martini Media specializes in helping the world’s most prestigious brands engage the most affluent and influential online. Leveraging proprietary insights on how and where the affluent consume media, as well as unmatched access to the passion-based, niche sites this audience interacts with, Martini provides highly efficient, targeted reach into the affluent market. Headquartered in San Francisco, Martini has offices in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and London. Visit www.martinimediainc.com to learn more.
About Ipsos MediaCT:
Ipsos Connect is the market research specialization within Ipsos built to reach, engage and more effectively understand today’s digitally-driven consumer in the fast moving media, content and technology space. We work with leading companies in technology, entertainment and all sectors of media – TV, online, print, mobile, outdoor, radio – helping owners and advertisers to better understand different audiences, the content they consume, the channels they use to consume it and the technology they use to discover, talk about and access this content. Ipsos Connect is a specialist division within Ipsos, one of the world’s largest market research agencies. Ipsos has offices in 86 countries, generating global revenues of €1.7124 billion (2.274 B$) in 2013. Alongside media, content & technology, Ipsos has specialist practices in advertising, loyalty, marketing and public opinion research. Visit www.ipsos-na.com/media to learn more.
via BusinessWire
