According to a study published by Unity Marketing, a marketing research and consulting firm that specializes in consumer insights for luxury marketers, 44% of luxury consumers named Internet as important in influencing their purchases.

Print articles and reviews were only second at 42%, far behind are newspaper ads, 31% while TV programs and commercials are at 28% and magazine advertising at 24%.

These results mean that luxury marketers should communicate more efficiently online than they are used to actually.

Pam Danziger, President of Unity Marketing, says that "Marketers waste the power of the Internet and minimize the effectiveness of their Web sites if they simply transfer traditional marketing communications from print or TV to the Web. All marketing and branding communications should start on the Web, using all the tools, facilities and capabilities of 21st Century computer Networks, then transfer that to traditional medias as needed."

Danziger, and we have exactly the same opinion, thinks that the quality of luxury Web sites needs also to be improved. Specifically, luxury marketers need to actively pursue a "dialogue" with their consumers, inviting them to communicate with the companies. Web sites should the "the central hub of two-way communication with customers."

The survey of 866 consumers with income of $50,000 or more was conducted in August 2002 and results were just released.

Source : Unity Marketing