The Lifestyles of Affluent Influencers

The Lifestyles of Affluent Influencers

Some customers are more important than others, says iProspect [download page] in a new study covering “affluent influencers” – the 40% of affluent adults (more than $100,000 in household income) who define themselves as influencers. Knowing what activities these individuals regularly engage in can assist marketers in producing and placing their ads in a way that maximizes their ability to “influence the influencers.” So what does the affluent influencer’s lifestyle look like? Hint: Not much like the “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”

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The study examines the activities that affluent influencers regularly participate in, sorting them by generation. Interestingly, the most common activities are consistent across generations, with respondents most often enjoying relaxing at home, spending time with family, visiting family and friends, and shopping.

Those activities don’t seem to differ much from what the general consumer might enjoy participating in, and suggest that marketers avoid stereotypes (sipping martinis on a yacht?) when seeking to target these consumers.

More “niche” activities come to the fore when indexing the regular activities of affluent influencers against the affluent population sample as a whole.

For Millennial (aged 21-36) affluent influencers, the top indexing activities are:

• Going to nightclubs (index of 228);
• Going to bars (206); and
• Visiting stately/country homes (184).

For Gen X (aged 37-48) affluent influencers, the top indexing activities are:

• Visiting theme parks (242);
• Going to nightclubs (134); and
• Home improvement, day trips, and entertaining/hosting (each at 132).

For Baby Boomer (aged 40-66) affluent influencers, the top indexing activities are:

• Going to classical music concerts or opera (151);
• Visiting museums (150); and
• Going to exhibitions/galleries/museums (147).

What Activities are Affluent Influencers Passionate About?

The study also looks at the activities that respondents are most passionate about, with responses tending to follow their regular activities. For example, spending time with family and children is the top response across each generation, with relaxing at home and DIY also among the top 5 across generations.

Travel pops up as an activity that respondents are passionate about, though there appears to be a generational divide in this case. While Millennials count international travel as one of the top 5 activities they’re most passionate about, travel within the US makes the grade for both Gen Xers and Boomers.

Compared to the affluent population as a whole, Millennial affluent influencers are far more passionate about going to bars and nightclubs (each with an index of 256), while Gen Xers over-index most for entertaining and hosting (137) and going to the movie theater (131) and Baby Boomers for home improvements (150) and DIY (142).

Once again, it seems that what affluent influencers are passionate about probably doesn’t differ too much from the typical individuals, at least in that these activities are for the most part not restricted to individuals with oodles of money to spend (although perhaps they require some spare time). While there aren’t too many eyebrow-raisers in this portion of the survey, here’s an interesting one: Millennial affluent influencers are more than twice as likely as their affluent peers to be passionate about going to fast food restaurants. Go figure.

About the Data: The data is based on iProspect’s sister agency Carat’s proprietary Consumer Connection System (CCS), from which the researchers looked at the data associated with 4,855 affluent adult respondents (HHI of $100K+) and then looked specifically at the 40% who defined themselves as influencers.