Luxury Consumers: What Counts Are Experiences, Not Things

Summary: A report called "The Global Luxury Market: Exploring the Mindset of Luxury Consumers in Seven Countries” finds several striking similarities in US and Western Europe luxury consumers. Time is the ultimate luxury, while tech-related activities matter : using a personal computer, the internet, or a cell phone, rank as the most participated-in lifestyle activities by nearly three-fourths of all luxury consumers.

Source: MarketingCharts.com

First paragraphs:

Luxury consumers in the US and much of Western Europe are remarkably similar in many ways, especially in the emphasis they place on experiences rather than ownership, according to a report by the Consumer Research Center of The Conference Board.

“The largest share of luxury consumers (44%) and the largest share of consumers in each country most strongly agree that ‘luxury is having enough time to do whatever you want and being able to afford it.’ So, for luxury consumers worldwide, time is the ultimate luxury,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center.

The report was sponsored by Conde Nast Publications, Gucci Group, Gibson USA, The Ritz Carlton and Tru Vue and is based on an online survey of 1,800 affluent consumers in the US, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK. Respondents were over age 18 and in the top 25% income brackets.

Some findings from the report, “The Global Luxury Market: Exploring the Mindset of Luxury Consumers in Seven Countries”:

Time is the most highly valued luxury (named by 35% of respondents as best matching their personal definition of luxury), then life experiences (25%), followed by having comfort, beauty and quality (18%).

About one-fourth of luxury consumers strongly agree:
Luxury is less about the material things one has or one owns and more about how one experiences life, a sense of happiness and satisfaction (26% strongly agree).
Luxury is being comfortably well-off and not having to worry about tomorrow (25% strongly agree).
Luxury is the finer things in life that surround you with extreme comfort, beauty, and quality (25% strongly agree).
Luxury is the “best of the best” in all aspects of your life (18% strongly agree).

Luxury consumers’ favorite pursuits worldwide include tech-related activities and travel:
Activities, such as using a personal computer, the internet, or a cell phone, rank as the most participated-in lifestyle activities by nearly three-fourths of all luxury consumers.
Travel is next, with 69% of luxury consumers worldwide reporting an interest.

The most popular status luxuries owned across the countries surveyed:
Collections of antiques and rare items (30%)
Original art, paintings and sculpture (31%)
Vacation/second home (27%).