Martini Media Releases New Martini Report with Insights into the Mind of the Affluent Traveler
~ Fourth report reveals Affluents prefer luxury travel experiences
over luxury goods; women are more likely to want to explore than men;
and 50% more are willing to spend on leisure activities than a year ago ~
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–For Affluents, travel trumps bling. A whopping 80% would choose a luxury
experience over a luxury item, according to The Martini Report,
Volume 4: The Affluent Traveler. The report was released today
by Martini Media, the leader in engaging affluent audiences online,
acquired by Evolve Media, LLC this summer. The report is the fourth
volume in a series of studies and reveals that the affluent traveler
likes to spend money on new experiences, seeks adventure and culture and
is digitally grounded. The proprietary study was conducted in
collaboration with Ipsos Connect, a firm recognized for its expertise in
research on affluent consumers and luxury markets.
The Martini Report, Volume 4: The Affluent Traveler
details the online behavior of three key segments of the Affluent
Market: the Hyper Affluent, 3% of Americans with at least
$250,000 in annual household income; the Mass Affluent, one
quarter of the U.S. population who falls in the $100,000-$249,000 income
range; and the Emerging Affluent, aged 18-39, with household
income in the $75,000-$249,000 range.
“The memories made from one-of-a-kind travel experiences are something
that money cannot buy,” said Vincent Krsulich, Senior Vice President of
Sales at Martini Media, an Evolve Media company. “The Martini Report
showed that while older Affluents are more interested in relaxing with
family while on vacation and younger Affluents actively seek out new
experiences to learn about other cultures, they have one thing in
common: Affluents would rather spend money on vacation than on material
possessions, and the amount of time and money they plan to spend is
expected to increase over the coming year.”
Key findings include:
-
Affluents choose experiences over material goods: When asked
how they would spend $5000, 87% of respondents said they’d rather put
the money towards a vacation than a watch or piece of jewelry,
demonstrating that experiences are vitally important to Affluents. -
Affluents prefer the comfort and amenities of the hotel experience: As
home sharing gains in popularity, Affluents are not as eager to join
the trend. A strong majority (75%) prefer staying in a hotel versus
renting a home because of their high expectations for service,
amenities and brand reputation. -
Travel planning is a highly considered activity: Almost half of
all Affluents begin planning 6 months before the vacation, but may not
actually finalize their choices until less than 3 months prior to
their trip. -
Hyper Affluents mix business with pleasure: Hyper Affluents
often piggyback personal travel with business travel – 53% said they
did so in the past year. All other segments hover around 38%. In
addition, 90% of total Affluents said they had some influence over
their airline and hotel bookings for business travel. -
Digital media is central to Affluent travel research: Affluents
are spending over 12 hours researching travel online across devices.
Value-driven Affluent Millennials prefer booking through an online
travel agency (57%) while most Hyper Affluents would rather book
directly with hotels and airlines (56%). -
Different Affluent segments prefer different locations: The
continental United States is the most popular summer vacation
destination for all Affluents, followed by Europe and the Caribbean.
In addition, women are more likely to want to explore than men as 84%
said they are more likely to travel to new destinations versus
familiar locales, compared to 70% of men.
Buoyed by economic optimism and a growing interest in experiences, one
in five Affluents plan to travel more this year compared to 19% who will
travel less. Brands that can contribute to an enhanced travel experience
for Affluents can build loyalty and become a part of the vacation
memories that Affluents are looking for.
“Affluents devote a significant amount of time and money to travel,”
said Geoff Schiller, Chief Revenue Officer at Evolve Media, parent
company of Martini Media, TotallyHer and CraveOnline. “Advertisers
should take advantage of this growing market in part by further
marketing their unique and customized experiences in line with the
research and booking trends for this lucrative audience.”
Methodology: The Martini Report is an innovative tracking study
that details the role of the internet in Affluent lives and Affluent
spending. This paper is the fourth in a series, and is based on an
online survey conducted by Ipsos Connect in April 2015 with 875
respondents. The data were weighted to reflect Census demographic
targets to maximize the representation of the study’s sample. “Affluent”
is defined as adults with at least $100,000 in annual household income;
just 23% of the population, Affluents account for 74% of U.S. net worth,
and a majority of the dollars spent in many marketplace categories. The
study also included a limited sample of Aspiring Affluents ($75-99K HHI).
A full White Paper detailing the findings is available upon request.
About Evolve Media LLC.:
Evolve Media is a publisher of
leading enthusiast lifestyle destinations for men and women. Leveraging
proprietary advertising and publishing technologies, as well as hundreds
of talented content professionals, Evolve Media offers premium and
engaging content to its readers, while offering marketers the tools
needed to execute custom, content-led marketing solutions that reach its
audience of over 95 million people globally each month. Our mission is
simple; we create the content people are passionate about. Follow Evolve
Media on Twitter at @EvolveMedia_LLC
and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evolvemediallcpublishing.
About Martini Media:
Acquired by Evolve Media in 2015,
Martini Media specializes in helping the world’s most prestigious brands
engage the most affluent and influential online. Leveraging proprietary
insights on how and where the affluent consume media, as well as
unmatched access to the passion-based, niche sites this audience
interacts with, Martini provides highly efficient, targeted reach into
the affluent market. Headquartered in San Francisco, Martini has offices
in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and London. Visit
http://www.martinimediainc.com to learn more.
About Ipsos MediaCT:
Ipsos Connect is the market research
specialization within Ipsos built to reach, engage and more effectively
understand today’s digitally-driven consumer in the fast moving media,
content and technology space. We work with leading companies in
technology, entertainment and all sectors of media – TV, online, print,
mobile, outdoor, radio – helping owners and advertisers to better
understand different audiences, the content they consume, the channels
they use to consume it and the technology they use to discover, talk
about and access this content. Ipsos Connect is a specialist division
within Ipsos, one of the world’s largest market research agencies. Ipsos
has offices in 86 countries, generating global revenues of €1.7124
billion (2.274 B$) in 2013. Alongside media, content & technology, Ipsos
has specialist practices in advertising, loyalty, marketing and public
opinion research. Visit www.ipsos-na.com/media
to learn more.
Contacts
The Rosen Group
Kari Arneson and Diane Stefani
646-695-7042
/ 212-255-8224
kari@rosengrouppr.com
/ diane@rosengrouppr.com
