Louis Vuitton the most overrated brand amongst affluent Americans, suggests new study
Louis Vuitton is among the most overrated brands according to a study from the American Affluence Research Centre, which looked to identify the expectations for giving and receiving Christmas gifts, the items mentioned most often on the gift wish list, the amount spent on holiday gifts in 2012, and the gift spending plans for 2013.
Survey participants were asked to comment on brand experience, familiarity, and perceptions during the past five years for 17 different luxury brands across different categories.
The brands listed included Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Gucci, Chanel, Prada, Coach, Burberry, Rolex, Breitling, Clinique, Lancôme, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom’s, Four Seasons Hotels, Ritz-Carleton Hotels, BMW, and Lexus.
44 per cent of people believed the Louis Vuitton brand to be the most over-rated, closely followed by Gucci (38 per cent) and Hermes (37 per cent).
Nordstrom’s was the most owned or experienced brand and was found to be the least overrated brand (12 per cent).
The survey also looked at Christmas gift expectations, finding that 89 per cent of women and 72 per cent of men expect to receive a holiday gift this year.
The most popular items on the gift wish list are some form of ‘currency’ (a gift card/certificate or money) among 47 per cent of the women and 43 per cent of the men. Clothing is the second most named item among women (40 per cent) and men (33 per cent).
On average about a quarter of the affluent say they will spend less on holiday gifts this year (an average decline of 13 per cent) versus 2012 and 4 per cent say they will spend more (average increase of 9.5 per cent)
The average spent on holiday gifts among the most affluent Americans could sit at around $2,175, a decline of 2.8 per cent from 2012.
This report is based on the responses from 327 men and women who responded and met the minimum net worth requirement of $800,000. Their households have an average annual income of $295,000, an average net worth of $3.1m, average investable assets of $1.7m, and an average primary residence value of $1.3m. Over 93 per cent have a net worth of $1m or more.