Radio: A Leading Media Destination for Wealthy Americans

Architectural Digest, Golf Channel, Wall Street Journal - for years, these media properties have been synonymous with wealth and considered ideal environments for advertisers seeking to engage with affluent consumers. But a new Katz analysis of MRI-Simmons data confirms that radio deserves a prominent place in this conversation as well.

RADIO CONNECTS BRANDS WITH UPSCALE CONSUMERS

Katz examined the media behavior of wealthy Americans to understand how select radio formats fit into their lifestyle. Rather than using the traditional metric of annual income, we evaluated the household net worth of consumers, often considered a better indicator of wealth and spending power, as it takes into account the owned assets of the individual’s household (including financial accounts, home value and possessions), instead of simply reflecting a regular paycheck.

The average American household has a net worth of $391,880. Spanning across the dial from All News to Hot AC, a wide variety of radio formats attract consumers with deeper pockets and higher spending power than average. 

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RADIO FORMATS RIVAL UPSCALE MEDIA BRANDS 

Looking further into affluent media consumption, it is clear that many commercial radio formats (including News, Talk, and Sports) attract consumers who are as affluent as some of the most well-known, upscale media brands. Radio’s most affluent formats, All News and Classical, engage audiences that are larger and wealthier than The Atlantic, Conde Nast Traveler, and the Golf Channel. AAA music station listeners rival The New Yorker, and Sports listeners are on par with the New York Times and the Harvard Business Review. 

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Affluent Americans wield immense purchasing power across a variety of categories, including automotive, travel, and financial services. AM/FM radio offers marketers multiple options to engage with this important and influential segment in meaningful ways. 

Back to School Season Amping Up in 2022

This year, back-to-school jitters are not exclusive to students as the current economic climate weighs on parents. Deloitte's Back-to-School Survey gives more insight into the current mindset of parents and how purchase behavior will be affected this season.

PARENTS FACE INCREASED SPENDING LEVELS AND FINANCIAL CONCERNS

Deloitte is predicting a $34.4B back-to-school season in 2022, up +6% from 2021. Parents are planning to spend an average of $661 per child, an additional +$49 over last year. After last year's tech heavy shopping season, tech category spending is expected to be down -8%, while the categories seeing the largest increases in spending in 2022 are clothing/accessories (+18%), followed by school supplies (+7%), and COVID-related products (+7%).

The rising cost of items is cited by 6 in 10 parents as a reason they're spending more this year. 57% of parents are concerned about this inflation, as a growing number are experiencing financial distress. 33% consider their household to be in a worse financial situation than last year and 36% are worried about making upcoming school-related payments.

CHANGES TO HOW AND WHERE CONSUMERS SPEND

This year, in-store shopping is seeing a resurgence, comprising half of consumers' back-to-school budget (49%), an increase of +6 points over 2021. Following two years of growth, consumers' online spend is expected to decrease -4 share points to 35%. As always, mass merchandisers are the top destination, drawing 81% of shoppers, up +7 points from last year. Every other store format is seeing growth in 2022, with the exception of dollar stores, which are flat/down -1 point. More than half of consumers (56%) will shop at online-only stores, gaining +7 points over last year. Another notable store category experiencing growth this year is traditional department stores, with a +7 point gain. 

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PEAK PENDING OCCURRING LATER THAN LAST YEAR

A year older and wiser, 63% of parents are expecting stockouts during this shopping season due to COVID-19 impact, a +13 point increase over last year. Despite the threat of low inventory, parents are not setting out to shop any earlier; in fact peak spend is occurring the first half of August - and 46% of total spend is expected to take place after July. There is still time to influence where and how parents' back-to-school dollars are spent, but retailers need to act now, as $15.8B of spending is slated to take place from August-on.

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Local radio is a valuable asset for retailers looking to influence back-to-school dollars. It delivers high reach among parents in local markets across the country and is proven to impact consumer behavior, leading to +20% lifts in online search activity and store traffic (RAB studies). And radio delivers an average $12 return for every dollar spent on ads, including larger returns for back-to-school retail sectors, including mass merchandisers ($16), department stores ($15), and electronics retailers ($14) (Nielsen ROAS studies).

For more information from Deloitte.

Resilient Travel Industry Forecast

CONSUMER TRAVEL SPEND TO SURPASS $1 TRILLION IN 2022

The travel bug is biting, even in the face of economic headwinds, leading to some encouraging predictions for the travel industry. According to the Summer 2022 forecast released by the U.S. Travel Association, a non-profit organization representing all components of the travel industry, travel continues to show signs of improvement in the second half of 2022 and into the future.  

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Total travel spending is expected to reach $1.05T this year, the first time crossing the trillion dollar mark since 2019. Though it has reached 90% of pre-pandemic levels, the U.S. Travel Association reports that 2022 has lost $206B due to pandemic impact.

Other notable highlights from the forecast include:

Domestic leisure travel at $741B has surpassed pre-pandemic spending by 3%, but is still well below previously projected levels. 

Domestic business travel spending is projected to exceed $200B for the first time since 2019, reaching 74% of its pre-pandemic total. Though the number of trips are expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2024, spending will not fully recover through 2026. 

International inbound travel spending is projected to more than double its 2021 levels (triple for international business). Overall international travel spend, driven by leisure, is expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2025. 

For more information from the U.S. Travel Association.

The Katz Local Vote: Helping Radio Get its Share of Political Ad Dollars

Kantar now projects that political ad spending will hit $8.4 billion this year. With 3 months, and a dozen primaries, between now and the general election, let Katz's Local Vote Interactive Guide help you succeed this mid term election season. Whether you are navigating the political landscape for political or brand advertising, you'll be able to use our guide to easily engage with these helpful insights:

       Political windows

      Governor, Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives races

       State political leanings

       Voter media usage by state, market, and party affiliation

       And more to come!

See below for a quick preview of the Local Vote Interactive Guide, including the main menu, voter timeline, and a sample of data for The Volunteer State, where citizens are voting in their primary today.

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Go to the Katz Local Vote Interactive Guide.