26% of affluent Americans own a tablet; 47% live in a household with a tablet

"Affluent interest in mobile devices and digital media continues to grow. The 2012 Mendelsohn Affluent survey from Ipsos MediaCT finds that 26% of 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."

Source:  2012 Mendelsohn Affluent survey from Ipsos MediaCT, reported in a press release, 19th September 2012

Methodology:  "Now in its 36th year, the Mendelsohn Affluent Survey is the definitive single source research tool for consumer insights and media planning regarding Affluent Americans. Among other uses, it serves as a currency study for Affluent print advertising – the agreed-upon source of audience measurement data used by agencies, advertisers and media companies in negotiating the cost and placement of advertising. The 2012 Mendelsohn Affluent Survey was conducted from March through July, and has 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 rigorous methodologies to ensure the results are projectable to the population of America’s 59 million Affluents."

Affluent American men spend more online than affluent American women

"According to digital performance company iProspect, there are 19 million affluent men online, and the vast majority of them are shopping. Nearly half of these wealthy men spend more than $4,000 a year online.
Luxury menswear and accessories are leading the growth trend. Seventy percent of affluent men prefer to both research and buy online, with more than a quarter of them making purchases weekly. (Sorry ladies, but 84% of these guys are buying for themselves.)
Chris Ventry, the general manager of Gilt Groupe's GiltMan, tells CNBC the growth rate of men shopping online has outpaced women, and guys are outspending the ladies by 20% to 30%.
Megan Grant, senior vice president of Marketing for Kiehl's, tells CNBC its men's business online has doubled that of its stores.
These men expect a seamless experience across all digital platforms. iProspect's survey reveals nearly half of all wealthy men research products on their mobile devices.
The affluent male, which the survey defines as a man with a household income of more than $100,000, is very connected, with nearly half of those surveyed researching products on smartphones. Tablet shopping is growing quickly as well."

Source:  CNBC, 5th May 2012

80% of Americans earning more than $250,000 pa are social media users

"The reasons for going online are, as most other industries already know, compelling. Eighty percent of people with an income of over $250,000 are social media users according to Unity Marketing research, and 50 percent have used social media to learn more about a brand or see new products. Data from small business consulting firm Lex Consulting shows that those earning more than $150,000 are the only people spending more than they did before the recession. And a 2011 Digitas study notes over the next decade digitally entrenched millennials will become the next major luxury buyers—and should therefore be targeted now."
Source:  AdWeek, 12th September 2011
Note - While they don't explicitly say it, I'm assuming that the research quoted is for the US only

98% of Affluent Americans use the internet

"IAB found that 98 percent of affluent consumers use the Internet, compared with 79 percent of the general population. Wealthy Americans spend around 26 hours online each week, 18 hours watching TV and about eight hours listening to the radio. The general population, on the other hand, spends about twice as much time weekly with TV and radio – 34 hours and 16 hours, respectively – and just about 22 hours on the Internet.
Other key data points show affluent users are just as capable of advertising recall. Eighty-eight percent of affluent consumers recalled being exposed to at least one digital ad during the previous week, compared with 84 percent of non-affluent Internet users. Within these groups, affluents recalled 21.1 ads on average, versus 20.2 for other groups."

Source:  Data from the IAB, reported by Venture Beat, 1st August 2011

Note - "The study defines “affluent Americans” as people with at least $100,000 annual incomes. They comprise 21 percent of U.S. households, have 70 percent of all consumer wealth, and spend 3.2 times more than other Americans on purchases."  (So that's household income, presumably)

Wealthy Americans still look for bargains online

"The nation's most affluent consumers are shopping online more often than other consumers, but that doesn't mean they're heading to sites that appeal to only the wealthy.
According to Unity Marketing's most recent survey of ultra-affluent consumers (those making more than $250,000 in annual income -- the wealthiest 2% of Americans), Amazon.com is the top shopping destination for about 45% of the demographic. That is more than two to three times greater than the next-most-popular Web site, Unity Marketing's President Pam Danziger tells Marketing Daily.
"[Amazon.com] has been a cornerstone of Internet shopping since e-commerce first began and has consistently adapted to the needs of its customers in order to build a loyal following," Danziger says. "For the most discerning affluent shoppers, Amazon offers outstanding levels of customer service along with an expansive product selection."
Yet the nation's wealthiest consumers are also looking for bargains online. Fourteen percent of shoppers went to eBay, 10% used Groupon and 8% hit Craigslist.com. Wealthy shoppers are also heading to flash-sale sites such as Shopittome.com, Gilt.com, Hautelook.com and Amazon's entry into the category, MyHabit.com."
Source:  MediaPost, 7th July 2011

How affluent Europeans use their mobile phones

Click to enlarge

Source:  Press release from Synovate for the 2011 EMS Survey, 14th March 2011

Note on methodology & sample - "EMS 2011 represents the highest-earning 13% of the population in 20 markets across Western and Central Europe. Refinements to the design of this, the 16th release of EMS, include consumption of media brands via mobile applications and mobile websites. This is the first year that an EMEA-wide set of data, combining results from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has enabled at-a-glance comparisons between markets as diverse as the Czech Republic and Cameroon, mirroring the multi-region planning priorities of many advertisers. From next year, we’ll be including Turkey too."