Retail & E-Commerce
A Data Deep Dive Into Luxury Consumers
Report summary
Luxury shoppers spend big on quality, comfort and ease.
Luxury shoppers represent a small portion of the population, but their spending power demands brands understand them. Uneven performance among luxury brands in the last year illustrates the mercurial nature of this cohort who can afford to spend more on quality. This report explores luxury shopper demographics, spending habits, media consumption and attitudes toward luxury fashion brands.
To better understand the demographics and behaviors of luxury consumers we used Morning Consult Intelligence to isolate financial elites who are typically willing to pay more for high-quality items in China, France, India, Mexico and the U.S. We also used the platform to analyze luxury shoppers’ attitudes toward major fashion brands. Additionally, we examined high-income households’ spending patterns and price sensitivity using Morning Consult Economic data.
Key Takeaways
- There are distinct luxury consumer profiles between emerging and established economies. In established economies like the U.S. and France, wealth accumulates with age, but in emerging economies like China, India and Mexico, wealth is more concentrated among millennials and Gen Xers. Baby boomers comprise 42% of luxury shoppers in the U.S. and 4% of those in China.
- Even luxury shoppers feel sticker shock. High-income consumers certainly spend more than other income groups, but luxury has its limit. Most luxury buyers say they are willing to pay up to 1.5x the standard cost of an item to attain the luxury version.
- Luxury fashion brands court young strivers. The financial elite, quality-oriented luxury audience shows higher brand affinity for luxury fashion houses, but luxury fashion shoppers have their own psychographic profile. More than two-thirds (70%) of luxury fashion shoppers say they’re always looking out for the latest trends.
Data Downloads
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Methodology
Morning Consult data featured in this report draws from surveys conducted May 18-19 and June 22-23, 2024, among representative samples of roughly 2,200 U.S. adults. All survey interviews were conducted online, and the data were weighted to approximate populations of adults based on age, gender, race, educational attainment, region, gender by age and race by educational attainment. Top-line results from the survey has a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
Morning Consult audience data comes from Morning Consult Intelligence. The platform helps you understand your audience, brand, competitors and market in a way traditional research companies can’t. Learn more here.
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