Tracking Trends

Digging into the research by household income and gender yields interesting insights. Among consumers with a house­hold income of $150,000 or more, 53 percent indicate that hav­ing their hair cut or colored is an untouchable item—a greater percentage than any other income or age group; 21 percent say maid service is untouchable; and 22 percent feel the same way about lawn care service. One might expect that more affluent consumers would be further inclined to consider fine dining untouchable, but that’s not the case. Their propensity to spend on fine dining is actually on par with other income segments; they also don’t show a particular proclivity for shopping at department or specialty stores. See Table 4.

The one category that stands out among this income group is the vacation. On average, 34 percent of all respondents con­sider it to be untouchable; the percentage jumps to 36 percent for the 55-and-older group, but for those with a household income of $150,000 and up, 50 percent refuse to give up their vacation time. Perhaps the most telling indicator of how well- heeled consumers are feeling about spending in the near future is the feedback provided to the question, “Have you cut back on any of the items [included in the survey]?” Slightly more than 7 out of every 10 respondents (71 percent) answered “no.”

Source: Barry Berman, Joel R Evans, Patrali Chatterjee (2017), Retail Management: A Strategic Approach, Pearson; 13th edition.