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A new subset of affluent women dubbed “Marketing Multipliers” spends twice as much as other affluent women on consumer electronics and fashion, and uses dramatically more online and offline word-of-mouth to drive increased purchases. Based on qualitative interviews and a survey of more than 3,000 women with household incomes of at least $100K, the research identifies a combination of extensive social networks, past recommending behavior and personality traits that differentiate influential Marketing Multipliers from other affluent women conducted by the New York Times.
The findings show that while Marketing Multipliers have the same demographic characteristics of other affluent women, they differ in a number of important ways:
* Marketing Multipliers have different media behavior, especially online, and are active contributors to the virtual world, not just passive readers. They are twice as likely to post to blogs or to publish their own Web pages, compared to other women.
* Marketing Multipliers are discriminating in vetting their online sources: 71% of Marketing Multipliers say it is important for an ad to be “on a Web site that I consider trustworthy.”
* Helping other people, learning new things and knowing people from different walks of life are much more important to Marketing Multipliers than to other affluent women.
* Marketing Multipliers are more than three times more likely to say being an authority – on what is in and what is out – is important to them.
* Marketing Multipliers are more likely to seek out in-depth information on products. In the investment category, for example, 45% follow up on new investment products they see advertised, and 53% of Marketing Multipliers in the Automotive category “follow information related to new safety features.”
The research also examined how Marketing Multiplier behavior related to five major industries: finance, fashion, consumer electronics, automotive and travel. It found:
* Marketing Multipliers in the consumer electronics category have almost five times as many conversations about these products than other affluent women; they spend more than twice as much; and more than half (52%) say they accompany family members on shopping trips to advise them on consumer electronics and other tech items.
* Marketing Multipliers in the fashion category spend more than twice as much as other affluent women on clothes and accessories. They serve as walking, talking ads for their favorite brands: 76% are asked by others where they bought the clothes they are wearing (compared to only 24% of other affluent women).
* In the travel category, Marketing Multipliers take twice as many trips, and talk more than four times as often about travel brands - including hotels, airlines and car rentals - than other affluent women.
In a time of tight marketing budgets and an increased focus on return, this study provides advertisers a much better understanding of consumers who are powerful catalysts for purchase behavior and brand influence. The Marketing Multipliers research will help advertisers effectively reach and communicate with this key group of customers.
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