Households Earning $100K+ Remain Heavy Print Users

Consumer Attitudes

September 19, 2012 -- Ipsos MediaCT’s 2012 Mendelsohn Affluent Survey shows households making 100K+, referred to as “Affluents” by the study, “continue to reaffirm the power of the hard copy print publications in their lives, even as tablet and smartphone penetration grows disproportionately in this demographic.”
 
Key findings of this study providing consumer insights and media planning regarding Affluent Americans:
 

• The survey finds that 82% of Affluents regularly read at least one of the 150 measured and reported print publications (143 magazines and 7 national newspapers). The total duplicated average-issue audience is more than 221 million, reflecting that America’s 59 million Affluents read an average of 18.7 issues across an average of 8.2 titles. Comparing publications measured in both 2011 and 2012, Affluent average-issue audience was relatively stable at -1.3%.
   
• Ultra Affluents (households making $250K+) consume approximately 25% more print media, reading an average of 23.5 issues across an average of 10 titles.

 

• In addition to Ultra Affluents, Affluent Women are particularly heavy print consumers, with highest reach and number of titles and issues read.

 

• Nearly one in 4 (24%) Affluents read at least one of the national daily newspapers measured in hard copy form.

 

• Television continues to rank first in advertising reach and receptivity, with magazines a close second.

 

• Affluents' interest in mobile devices and digital media continues to grow. One in 4 (26%) Affluents personally own a tablet, and 47% live in a household with a tablet – figures that essentially tripled from 2011. More than half (55%) now own a smartphone, up from 45% in 2011.

 

• Growth was evident in the downloading of the three most widely-used categories of apps – games (68%), weather (62%) and music (62%) – as well as apps related to social networking (45%) and books/e-readers (40%). In 2012, 4.7 million Affluents downloaded a magazine app, more than doubling from 2.0 million in 2011; 5.9 million downloaded a newspaper app, up from 3.6 million in 2011.

 

• Affluents reported using the Internet an average of 37.4 hours weekly, up 14% from 2011, with the largest growth seen in sites related to social media, entertainment and shopping.

 
About: Now in its 36th year, the latest Mendelsohn Affluent Survey was conducted from March-July 2012, with a sample size of 13,794 adults living in households with at least $100,000 in annual household income. The survey uses a random probability sample drawn from address-based sample frame as well as other methodologies to ensure the results are projectable to the population of America’s 59 million Affluents.

Source: Ipsos, Affluent Hard Copy Total Print Readership Largely Stable, Even as Digital Device Penetration Rises Sharply, September 19, 2012.