"While Boomers still spend lots of money on luxuries, the younger generations of affluent consumers are going to be more important for luxury goods marketers in the future, as Boomer's spending shifts as they age," says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author of Shopping: Why We Love It and How Retailers Can Create the Ultimate Customer Experience.

"That is why Unity Marketing is undertaking a new consumer insights study that will focus on the under 40 year old luxury consumer, what they want and desire in luxury and how their tastes differ from those of the Boomers that luxury consumers have been catering to for so many years," Danziger says.

To prepare for the future, luxury marketers must understand the unique desires of the under 40 year olds, how they express luxury in their lifestyles today and into the future. Understanding the young luxury consumers is critical for marketers to target their marketing communications, advertising and product development efforts effectively now and into the future.

Unity Marketing is undertaking an intensive investigation of the mindset and consumer psychology of these two distinctive generations of luxury consumers. Through a series of focus groups among luxury consumers (household incomes of $150,000 and above and home values of $500,000 or more) Unity will examine their differing attitudes toward luxury and how that impacts their buying and shopping for luxury goods and services.

Methodology
Six focus groups are planned: two groups among under 40 year old affluent women; one group among Baby Boomer women; two groups among under 40 year old affluent men; and one group among affluent Baby Boomer men.

Note: The Under 40 year old groups will include both GenXer generation and leading edge Millennial generation participants (up to age 29) to include their more youthful perspective.

Topics to be Investigated
The discussion will center on how the different generations perceive luxury - what luxury means to them and how important it is in their lives as a consumer. We will place special emphasis on understanding the view of luxury from the perspective of age: how younger and older consumers express luxury and relate to it in their lives.

Areas to be investigated are:

• What luxury means to them and how they interpret luxury for their lifestyles?
• How important these specific values in purchasing luxury goods, such as exclusivity, status, prestige, quality, uniqueness, value, brand recognition and awareness?
• To what extent do the following influence you in purchasing luxury goods and services - television advertising, magazine advertising, internet advertising or websites, brand name, celebrity endorsers or users, media coverage, peers, friends, family? For example, does it make you want to buy a luxury if a celebrity you admire favors that brand?
• When and how often they indulge in luxury in their lifestyles as opposed to buying the ordinary brand or service?
• With so many marketers at all ranges of the pricing scale, from Target to Barney's New York targeting the 'luxury market,' has luxury lost its meaning to consumers? If luxury doesn't mean what it once did, what has replaced it?
• What gives them their greatest luxury satisfaction and happiness - luxuries they buy for their home; personal luxuries they buy for themselves, like fashion, jewelry and watches, cosmetics; luxuries they use such as appliances, electronics and automobiles; or luxuries they experience, such as travel, dining, spa and beauty services?
• For each category of luxury above - home, personal, utilitarian, experiential - we will discuss what makes one product or service more luxurious than another?
• About the luxuries in their lives, what kinds of satisfactions do they derive from the luxuries that they own, including one's home; collections; hobbies; 'toys' like boats, cars, motorcycles, etc.; at home spas, pools; and other lifestyle luxuries?

Deliverables
Companies interested in the future of the luxury market, especially the younger generation of consumers, are invited to participate in this special investigation into the under 40 luxury consumer insights study. Sponsors will participate in developing the overall study scope and objectives; have input on the moderator's guide and focus group presentation materials presented to the study respondents; participate in viewing the focus groups, either live or on tape; receive an in-depth focus group report; and attend a webinar conference to discuss the major findings and implications of the research findings for marketers targeting the luxury consumer market.