Database Marketing: Use a Spending Index to Target Shoppers With Money to Buy

Consider, for instance, two households that both have $150,000 in income and two children, and are in the same lifestage. But one family lives in a small, rural town, and the other lives in New York City. Clearly they have substantially different spending power. In fact, the New York family may barely be squeaking by, and the small town family may have significant discretionary assets. Even if they happened to live in the same ZIP code, one family may have a child in college, a cost that can take up the bulk of a family’s discretionary assets. Beyond this, people are different, and spending patterns depend on their tastes, attitudes, where they live and their financial asset base.