Submitted: The Two Sides Team September 23, 2013

2013 Ipsos Affluent Survey is yet another "voice" in the chorus of those affirming the value of traditional print in the role of influencing consumers.

The Digital Nirvana – 20 September 2013

2013 Ipsos Affluent Survey is yet another "voice" in the chorus of those affirming the value of traditional print in the role of influencing consumers.  By extension, this supports the importance and use of QR Codes as a response mechanism.

The study found that there are now 62.5 million U.S. affluents (defined as adults aged 18+ living in households with at least $100,000 in annual household income). This is up more than 6% over the past two years. In addition to all of the other compelling data in the study, one of the most interesting is that affluents are still voracious consumers of traditional media, including print.

According to the research, 81% of affluents read at least one of the 142 reported print publications (135 magazines and 7 national newspapers) covered in the study. Coupled with the growth of the affluent population, Ipsos found that the number who read a print publication rose to more than 50 million globally. This skews significantly higher among affluent women, "ultra affluents" ($250K+ HHI), and wealthy consumers ($500K+ HHI).

For example, Affluents read 16.7 issues from 7.4 different titles, but Ultra Affluents read 22% more titles (9.0 vs. 7.4) and 29% more issues (21.6 vs. 16.7). The skews are even more dramatic among Wealthy consumers, who read 45% more titles (10.7 vs. 7.4) and 62% more issues (27.0 vs. 16.7) than Affluents. Compared to Affluent men, Affluent women read 16% more titles and 17% more issues.

We are seeing more and more QR Codes in magazines. In fact, according to "Scan Response Rates in National Magazines" (Nellymoser 2012), in Q2 2012 every magazine in U.S.'s Top 100 magazines contained at least one mobile action code during that period. In addition, 10% of magazine pages contained a QR or other mobile barcode, up from 5% one year earlier. All but ten of the magazine titles printed 10 or more codes in the quarter. I have no doubt that this has risen since then.

Affluents like traditional print, and there are more QR Codes in print. This means that, disproportionately, affluent consumers are being exposed to – and using – QR Codes to interact with print advertising and, by extension, print marketing materials.

As affluents continue to interact with traditional media and as their use of mobile channels continues on its upward trajectory, do we have any doubt that QR Code use will grow along with them?

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