NEW YORK-- According to Forbes Insights, affluent consumers are planning to spend close to $1,850 during the 2011 holiday season – an increase of 2% over 2010 and 5% over 2009 – with $1,100 earmarked for gifts for family, friends and other loved ones. Forbes Insights’ latest update to its monthly index tracking the economic attitudes, purchasing intentions and behaviors of affluent Americans, examines how much they plan to spend for the holidays.

The October 2011 data revealed that, while consumers on average plan to spend close to $630 on holiday gifts, affluent consumers plan for spend 75% more – a total of $1,100.

Among their recipients:

    They estimate they’ll spend $742 alone on gifts for family and loved ones – 80% more than general consumers plan to spend.

    Affluent consumers also plan to spend more than $100 on holiday decorations and $156 on special seasonal foods.

    51% say the economy will not affect their spending plans.

    They’re not waiting until the last minute to pick up their gifts, either. Sixty-five percent plan to do their holiday shopping prior to December, and half plan to do their shopping online.

“Forbes Insights, in conjunction with BIG Research, is bringing new, actionable data to the marketplace based on consumer intentions across categories such as automotive, financial services, luxury lifestyle and telecommunications. The introduction of the Forbes Affluent Consumer Tracker is our first release of this data focusing on the affluent market place, with more on the way,” stated Bruce Rogers, Chief Insights Officer, Forbes Media.

Holiday shopping season is not just for gifts, either. Two-thirds of affluent consumers intend to take advantage of the holiday sales to buy a few things for themselves, planning to spend $376 on non-gift purchases during the season -- 72% more than general consumers.

When it comes to receiving, affluent consumers also know what they want from their loved ones.

    Fifty-five percent are hoping to receive gift cards, while half would love to receive clothing and books, music, movies and video games.

    Four in ten affluent consumers are also hoping to receive electronics and computer accessories – notably higher than general consumers, at 35%.

The Forbes Affluent Consumer Tracker (FACT) is based on an exclusive analysis of monthly consumer trends developed by BIG Research, a consumer market intelligence provider, fielded among a nationally-representative sample of more than 8,500 U.S. adults, focusing on 841 consumers with household incomes greater than $100,000.

FORBES INSIGHTS

Forbes Insights (www.forbes.com/forbesinsights) is the custom research practice of Forbes Media. Forbes Insights’ research covers a wide range of vital business issues, including: talent management; corporate social responsibility; financial benchmarking; risk and regulation; and doing business in emerging markets.
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