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Frugality is In, Says Tracker of the Wealthy

By Jeremy Rosenberg
April 21, 2009
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Sure, it's not exactly SoCal-specific; not exactly a think tank; and at five-weeks-old, not exactly breaking news...

But still, TTLA couldn't resist passing along a few of the insights from the March 15,2009 edition (Vol. 105, No. 3) of The Wealth Report (Motto: "Leading Edge Insights into the World of the Wealthy"), a publication of the Manhattan-based Luxury Institute (Motto: "The Knowledge of Luxury, The Luxury of Knowledge").

With the permission from Milton F. Pedraza, Luxury's CEO, below are the excerpted reprints of a few of the Report's observations. The analysis, the Report says, is based on surveys conducted of 500 Americans with an average net-worth of $3.9 million:

  • "The biggest reasons that wealthy consumers purchase luxury goods and services are not ostentation but instead utility and personal satisfaction."
  • "Overall, almost two-thirds of wealthy consumers (62%) say that the current state of the U.S. economy affects their perception of the luxury industry as frugality has made its way into the shopping behavior of wealthy consumers."

  • "Declining sales among luxury firms are an expected symptom of the distressed state of the economy, but what should be especially disturbing to luxury executives is that wealthy consumers find that firms are failing to deliver on the the fundamentals of luxury."

    More information, and a raft of "WealthSurveys," are available for purchase via the Luxury Institute's site.

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