NEW YORK, Feb. 28, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American adults have their minds on their money in 2013. But does geography play a role in how consumers spend and save? Today, local market research firm Scarborough released an infographic illustrating the top local markets for Spenders (the 9% of U.S. adults who "mostly agree" with the statement "I am a spender rather than a saver") and the top local markets for Savers (the 29% of U.S. adults who "mostly disagree" with this statement), highlighting localism's role in consumer outreach strategies.
A photo accompanying this release is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=17382
While Spenders and Savers exist all across the United States, certain local markets have above average proportions of one group or the other. The top local markets for Spenders include Chicago, IL (residents are 33% more likely than the national average to be Spenders); Milwaukee, WI (31% more likely to be Spenders) and Green Bay, WI (28% more likely to be Spenders). The top markets for Savers include: Fort Myers, FL (residents are 19% more likely than average to be Savers); Des Moines, IA (17% more likely to be Savers) and El Paso, TX (12% more likely to be Savers). For the full lists of top local markets for Spenders and Savers, see the accompanying infographic.
Spenders and Savers both represent unique advertising opportunities for marketers and businesses, but which media buys are most efficient for reaching consumers who say they're Spenders? Spenders are 26 percent more likely than all U.S. adults to watch the BET network in the past seven days and 16 percent more likely to watch reality/dating television shows. Additionally, more than one-quarter (26%) of Spenders listen to the Pop Contemporary Hit radio format.
The generational breakdown of Spenders versus Savers is somewhat intuitive; younger people are Spenders and older people are Savers. Spenders are 13 percent more likely than all U.S. adults to be Millennials* (23% of adults who are Spenders are Millennials), Generation X* (26%), Baby Boomers* (34%) and the Silent Generation* (18%). Savers are 35 percent more likely than all U.S. adults to belong to the Silent Generation (24% of adults who are Savers are age 65 and older), Millennials (17%), Generation X (24%) and Baby Boomers (36%).
The best way brands can reach self-identified Spenders is to engage with them via social networking. Spenders are 15 percent more likely than all U.S. adults to spend three or more hours per day on a social networking site. Specifically, 67 percent visited Facebook in the past 30 days, nine percent visited LinkedIn and eight percent visited Twitter in the same time frame. Spenders are 25 percent more likely to feel that social networking is very important for finding out about products and services and 10 percent more likely to feel these sites are very important for rating and reviewing products and services.
Spenders' online activities are not limited to social networking; they are also more likely than the average U.S. adult to engage in online shopping. Spenders are 28 percent more likely than all U.S. adults to have purchased pet supplies online in the past 12 months, 19 percent more likely to have purchased insurance online and 15 percent more likely to have purchased medicine and prescriptions online in the same time frame. Additionally, 36 percent of Spenders purchased clothing or accessories online in the past year.
*Scarborough defines the different American generations as Millennials (age 18-29), Generation X (30-44), Baby Boomers (45-64) and the Silent Generation (65+).
Continue the conversation or share your opinions with Scarborough via Twitter by reaching out to @ScarboroughInfo.
This data is from Scarborough USA+, Release 1, 2012 - Scarborough/GfK MRI Attitudinal Insights Data. Scarborough measures 210,000 adults aged 18+ annually across a wide variety of media, lifestyle, shopping and demographic categories.
For more information regarding this or other Scarborough studies, please contact Brad Sherer at brad.sherer@scarborough.com.
About Scarborough
Scarborough (www.scarborough.com, info@scarborough.com) measures American life. Our consumer insights reflect shopping patterns, media usage across platforms, and lifestyle trends for adults. Media professionals and marketers use Scarborough insights to make smarter marketing/business decisions on things like ad placement, multicultural targeting, and sponsorship opportunities. The company's core syndicated consumer insight studies in 77 Top‐Tier Markets, its Multi‐Market Study and its national USA+ Study are Media Rating Council (MRC) accredited. Other products and services include Scarborough Mid‐Tier Local Market Studies, Hispanic Studies and Custom Research Solutions. Scarborough measures 2,000 consumer categories and serves a broad client base that includes marketers, advertising agencies, print and electronic media (broadcast and cable television, radio stations), sports teams and leagues and out‐of‐home media companies. Surveying more than 210,000 adults annually, Scarborough is a joint venture between Arbitron Inc. (www.arbitron.com) and The Nielsen Company (www.nielsen.com).
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The photo is also available at Newscom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress.
