Power brands beat niche brands for high earners

The average UK personal spend in 2014 on luxury goods was estimated to be £28,243 – 15% of household income according to global research carried out by LuxHub, Havas Media Group’s new luxury consultancy. The highest personal spend per person was seen in Russia at £36,078.

UK respondents sit in the middle of other markets: while 83% of Chinese high earners prefer super brands only 43% of Spanish opted for big brand names, preferring niche luxury brands.

Tammy Smulders, global executive director of Havas LuxHub, said: “In the UK, the key luxury drivers were quality and personal reward, versus more status driven responses in other countries. The UK has a heritage in luxury history steeped in the values of quality, bespoke and craftsmanship, and a focus on production details, as seen in UK brands such as Aston Martin, which ranked high in our survey.”

Among men and women combined, the most popular category for luxury shoppers is clothing & accessories purchased by 89% last year, with an average spend across women and men of £1,625. This is followed by travel, purchased by 87% with an average spend of £3,791. While only 30% purchased an automobile, average spend among those who did buy one was £27,630.

The respondents were from the top 10% of the household income bracket in the US, UK, China, Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Saudi Arabian/UAE markets. The survey looked at luxury trends for personal spend across retail, travel, home furnishings, auto, jewellery and art and analysed 40 of the top global brands.