The research was done in partnership with University of Chicago with the goal of identifying the ways in which our lifestyles relate to our income by examining media consumption, consumer behavior and social attitudes over a number of years. High income was defined as an individual who is in the top income quartile for their particular lifestyle and household type, such as singles and couples without children. The researchers used data from Mediamark Research Intelligence, which had a sample size of 6,394. The data includes bi-annual questionnaires as well as information like household income from a face-to-face interview.
The researchers concluded that ownerships of an iPhone in 2016 gave them a 69 per cent chance to correctly infer that the owner was high income. Ipad ownership was the second biggest indicator wealth, followed by android phone. Other indicators of wealth include Kikkoman-branded soy sauce, HP Printers and faxes, Samsung TV’s and Ziploc bags. The research concluded that there was no individual brand that was as predictive of wealth as ownership of an Apple iPhone in 2016.
Heated car seats and ownership of dishwasher detergents and dishwashers in general were also indicators of wealth. In 1992, the Grey Poupon Mustard was the best indicator of wealth, while in 2004 using Land O’ Lakes butter were the strongest signs of wealth.
How times have changed.
You might also like:
What you need to know about My Health Record
