How A Luxury Survey Differs From A Normal Online Survey

A luxury survey differs from a normal online survey in one fundamental aspect: its purpose is market research for luxury goods and services. Because such high-ticket goods and services are generally only purchased by the wealthy, a different type of market survey is needed for the affluent as would be appropriate for normal consumer goods not considered to be part of the luxury market research realm.

This is a fact for one major reason: the wealthy do not do online surveys! Let's look at this assertion in more detail, and discuss why that factor leads us to conclude that a luxury survey must be more targeted than that analyzing normal consumer behaviour.

Online consumer surveys are operated by businesses on behalf of their clients. Volunteers register with survey site to participate in surveys relevant to them in return for cash, free entry to sweepstakes or goods. They must participate in a fair number of surveys before they qualify for prizes, or accumulate sufficient cash to make it worthwhile.

For that reason, many rush the surveys in order to get to the next one as quickly as possible, and therefore do not give them their full attention, and may also not answer the questions honestly on the basis that 'any answer will do'. They might also complete the same survey a number of times using different names and email addresses. They might not even fit the required demographic, and rather than not qualify they may lie about their age, gender or income.

In short, online surveys are unreliable. However, such online surveys that pay participants present more problems than just these for a luxury survey. Consider the purpose of luxury research: it is intended to establish future buying behavior of wealthy people, so that those that manufacture and market luxury goods and services can develop a fairly accurate picture of what the affluent will be seeking in the near and distant future.

In other words, the major market by far for luxury goods is the rich. Will the rich take part in an online survey for prizes? Of course not - the wealthy do some pretty strange things at times, but registering for an online survey group in order to win a free package holiday is not generally one of them. So the demographic is all wrong for business trying to establish the future purchasing pattern of the wealthy.

Such companies need a different type of survey carried out for them; a survey that is targeted to the affluent and that provides them with an analysis of their potential purchasing behaviour. Such a survey should also target the right products and services, which is why businesses that carry out such surveys do so largely on a bespoke basis. Such a luxury survey will focus on a specific product group - luxury cars, for example - and will ask questions that provide the client with the information they need.

For example, they may ask the volunteer to place a number of luxury cars in order of perceived status, and then ask several questions designed to find out why. They may ask what features are more important than others, and so on. This type of information would give a top-end auto manufacturer ideas on how to better meet the needs of their potential clients, and perhaps bump them up the list.

To achieve this, the market research firm will maintain a verified emailing list of wealthy people prepared to cooperate and carry out the luxury survey and consumer research for the client. Such market research companies will also generally maintain the results and update them on a regular basis. However, one of the major differences between this type of survey and a regular online consumer survey is that, rather than ask those taking part about their historical buying habits, they will target their future intended expenditure on specified luxury goods or services.

So, rather than "How much did you spend on . . ." would be "How much do your plan on spending on . . .", so that the client has an indication of the future potential sales on the table. The potential size of the next 6 months market, or next year's market, is more important to the suppliers of luxury goods than how much was spent last year.

The recent downturn in the economy has rendered such historical information misleading, and the future is more important to the manufacturing and service industries than is the past. They have to formulate a strategic plan based upon projected sales, and only future expenditure on behalf of the affluent can give them that information.

That is a job for specialist firms that deal in marketing analysis for luxury goods that generally only the wealthy would purchase. Penthouse homes, Ferraris and luxury yachts are high ticket examples, while handbags, handmade shoes and bespoke tailors are others that are just as important to their business planners.

If you manufacture or market luxury goods or services, and are seeking a survey and analysis of the results to help your strategic planning, then you should seek a specialist market research company that handles luxury surveys for luxury goods that the general population would not normally purchase. A standard online survey is unlikely to give you the relevant information.