<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-6828" title="Blog 2" src="http://luminositymarketing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Blog-22.png" alt="" width="339" height="298" />Recent reports have shown that affluents are spending more and more time online, especially on social media sites. In the last year, Facebook usage among affluents has seen an increase of over <a href="http://www.millionairecorner.com/article/across-wealth-levels-social-media-usage-rise" target="_blank">20 percent</a>. What's even more interesting is what affluents are doing online. They are <a href="http://luxurysociety.com/articles/2011/11/affluent-consumers-and-how-they-use-the-internet-social-media-and-mobile-devices" target="_blank">turning to</a> the Internet to "investigate brands, form connections and make purchases." <a href="http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/158831/" target="_blank">Recent reports</a> have also found that these affluents are becoming more influenced by social media when purchasing luxury items. Of individuals with assets of $1 million or more, affluents said that comments and information on social media sites influenced which retail stores they visit (56 percent), what designer brands they buy (57 percent), and what websites they visit (59 percent). This is good news for luxury marketers. Not only will they be able to zero-in on affluent audiences on Facebook and other social media sites, but they can affect their friends and family too.

According to a recent Mendelsohn <a href="http://adage.com/article/adagestat/affluency-definitions-luxury/231388/" target="_blank">study</a> of affluents with an annual income of<a href="http://luminositymarketing.com/blog/?p=6812">[...]</a>

The results are in! Researchers have discovered that the brand of clothing you wear matters in society! Alright, so we knew this. But the latest research published in Evolution and Human Behavior shows that brand perceptions have bigger societal implications than we originally assumed. Apparently we are unconsciously very shallow. The study showed that not only do shirts with Lacoste or Hilfiger logos increase perceptions of status and wealth as compared to identical logo-less shirts, but they also help shopping survey interviewers get more responses at the mall. They help candidates in job interviews (branded candidates got 9% higher salary recommendations). And they even help volunteers gain donations at a charity auction. The list goes on. [...]