Wealthy People Are Blogging, Surfing Social Networking Sites
YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace aren't just for kids these days. Adults – including wealthy ones – are frequenting these sites as well.
According to HNW Inc., a New York-based financial marketing firm, wealthy consumers are getting information, checking email, downloading streaming audio, posting on blogs and connecting on social networking sites in greater numbers. More than 90 percent of wealthy Internet users say they get information about investing and other financial opportunities online.
When it comes to social networking, the study reveals some surprising details. Twenty-four percent of wealthy Internet users – almost one in four – are joining teens and twenty-somethings on social networking or "social media" sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Of this group, 69 percent maintain a profile on at least one site.
High-net-worth individuals also spend time with blogs. More than half of the wealthy Internet users surveyed, or 52 percent, read blog postings – and they're commenting on them, too, according to HNW's Wealth and New Media study. In fact, 20 percent of respondents say they've commented on a blog and almost one-in-five of these do so daily or weekly.
"New media are redefining the high-touch experience by creating more immediate, personal and relevant one-to-one interactions, on demand and with an unprecedented ability to deliver that attention to detail that is the signature of high-touch service,” according to HNW president Stacey Haefele. She tells Dow Jones Newswires that digital venues cater to “the needs of time-pressed prospects who crave real-time contact on their terms."
HNW says those who cater to the wealthy often make certain stereotypical assumptions. "It's true that high-net-worth individuals tend to be optimistic, intelligence-hungry and time-pressed. But that is only a small part of the story," says Haefele. “The ability to access information, ideas and other resources on demand is a benefit that does matter to affluent customers, the study shows. And age doesn't seem to matter.”
More than one-third of Web surfers aged 44 to 54 said they visit a social networking site, and 19 percent of those 55 and older said they do. The highest percentage is among those aged 18 to 44, of whom 50 percent said they visit such sites. Yet 72 percent of wealthy Web surfers aged 45 to 54 said they read blogs, compared with 69 percent of those aged 18 to 44 who said they do.
– By Ed Coury, senior editor and Midwest bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal Radio Network, Dow Jones & Co., and a reporter for WWJ Newsradio 950.
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