The economic divide: How consumer behavior differs across the economic

spectrum
Consumers on the opposite sides of the economic spectrum experience very
different economic conditions which impacts both the consumer behavior and
consumer need. Nielsen conducted a research focusing on the purchase behavior
and analyzing the use of media to get a better insight of consumers across this
spectrum. To target consumers at economic polarities it is important to understand
their media usage and alter marketing strategies accordingly.
Income level affects how people access information by determining the type of
gadgets they use. For high income consumers the rapid change in technology
results in their frequent shifting form one gadget to another, tablets and
smartphones being more popular and replacing traditional television. Devices such
as tablets, smartphones, video games consoles and digital video recorders have
resulted in easier and anytime accessibility to media. Moreover high income
consumers are twice more prone to subscribe to premium cable packages and five
times more likely to access television content through paid telecommunication
service.
Lower income group are more loyal customers of television, devoting 112 hours and
25minutes per month to television views. Reasons behind this may vary from there
being a higher unemployment rate amongst them to majority of stay-at-home
parents. There has however also been penetration of digital media amongst the
lower income group with them spending around 6 hours more per month online
than the higher income group. Facebook has been particularly popular amongst this
income group being easily accessible via mobile phones.
While differences in behaviour exist between the high and low income consumers it
is important to recognize that some similarities also exist between the two groups in
order to carry out effective marketing. For starters branded products occupy a
similar fraction of the items purchased for both the segments. Likewise, share of
private label products is mostly similar for different product categories across the
different income groups. Although choice of retail channels is different, it is the
grocery and mass merchandisers that are dominant channels at both ends of
income spectrum.
The major differences between the two economic groups is how much they spend
on consumer packaged goods, with higher income consumers spending around
$1200 more per year. Shopping behavior also differs with higher income consumers
being less frequent shoppers but spending more per shopping trip. Low income
consumers on the other hand are more frequent shoppers but have smaller baskets.
E-commerce and club stores are preferred by high income groups for shopping such
as Whole Foods and Trader Joes; while low income groups are attracted to

convenience and dollar stores such as Save-A-Lot. While brands appeal to all
income groups, it is a fact that lower income consumers purchase more private
label goods for categories of both edible and non-edible. National brands constitute
bulk of their baskets.
Consumers across the economic spectrum are facing different types of economic
pressures. Marketers and advertisers need to realize their situations and understand
the trends in their media usage and shopping patterns to be able to come up with
the different consumer needs accordingly.