Reach the Rich with Online Coupons

Online and print coupon usage increases with income level.

It may sound contradictory, but as income earnings increase, so does coupon usage. Despite this finding, however, the rich are different from the rest of us. Higher income households tend to use online coupons more often than print coupons. Print coupons, like the ones found in the newspaper or in mailings, are favored by lower income households, according to a new survey conducted by PriceRunner.com.

All 1,000 of the survey respondents had Internet access, and nearly three-quarters (73%) stated that they had used at least one coupon found online over the past six months. Nearly one in five (19%) reported multiple online coupon usage, with at least six times in the past six months.

Frequency of online coupon usage vastly differed according to economic group. Of respondents living in households of earning under $35,000 annually, more than half (58%) stated that they had used an online coupon at least once in the past six months. However, nearly three-quarters (74%) of respondents living in households earning between $35,000 and $74,000 a year reported using an online coupon over the past six months. The highest percentage of online coupon users exist in the group earning over $75,000 annually, with 84% of this group stating that they used an online coupon at least once in the past six months.

In addition, this last group accounted for the greatest frequency of online coupon use, with nearly half (48%) stating that they have used at least 4 of them over the past six months. This is in stark contrast to those respondents who earn under $35,000 annually, of which a mere 23% reported using at least 4 online coupons in the same time period.

Income level did not demonstrate the same relationship with print coupon usage as it did with online coupon usage. Seventy-two percent of homes with an income under $35,000 used at least one print coupon over the past six months. Eighty-five percent of homes with an income between $35,000 and $74,000 used at least one print coupon. The highest percentage of print coupon users existed in the highest income level, the over $75,000 group, with 88 percent having used at least one over the past six months. Highest print coupon frequency, with a usage of at least 4 print coupons, also existed within this last group, with over half (53%) doing so in the last six months.

The highest income households used online coupons most frequently than other income levels, and used print coupons most frequently, over the last six months. It would be interesting to see why this occurs, but one guess could be that since higher income families can afford more items, they consume more, and use more coupons with their increased consumption.