Results of Consumer Survey Shed Light on Art Buying Behavior

ATLANTA--The Art Publishers Association (APA) not long ago released the results of its consumer overlook "The Art Market: A research of Consumer Art Buying Behavior," at a special APA breakfast held during DECOR expo Atlanta. The end of the survey, according to APA President Robert Sher of Bentley House Publishing, was to forecast the shows for expanding the art market.

commonly the picture industry, which includes sales of original art, is a $33 billion industry. It includes originals, custom framers, mass merchandisers, and all chains of distribution, according to Unity Marketing, a consulting firm based in Steven Pa. This impressive number convinced Sher and others of the Market Expansion Committee at the APA of the ne to examine the art buying behavior of consumer The goal of the application of mind was to shed light upon the industry's current situation and what lies ahead in its coming time As Sher said, "The first pace in developing strategies to increase art sales is to understand for what cause [i]or[/i] reason consumers who buy art make that choice and wherefore other consumers do not single out to buy art."

From Aug. 8 to 22 a research firm leadershiped telephone interviews with 405 households across the United States. The lock opener issues measured by the take a view of included whether the household had purchased pictures during the past 12 months; reasons for buying or not buying pictures; whether purchasers had framed any unframed pictures themselves; the amount paid for pictures; alternate wall decor purchased by the agency of non-purchasers; and the type of retailer where pictures were purchased.

The terminus "pictures" was used in the view rather than art, because there was a certain quantity of concern that "art" would be perceived as solitary sophisticated or expensive.

Of those participants, 44 percent replyed that they had bought pictures during the past 12 months--71 percent of these bought pre-framed art; 59 percent bought unframed art; and 42 percent bought custom framed prints. The view found that households did not necessarily purchase only one kind of picture, as those who bought custom-framed pictures, for example, also ofttimes bought pre-framed and unframed pictures.

The average price paid for each unframed picture was $76 pre-framed pictures was $132 and custom-framed pictures was $199

single interesting finding was that a high percentage of picture purchasers were younger than 45 years of age, with the average age being 39 years elderly These younger buyers also protected to buy unframed pictures. Since decorating prov to be a lock opener trigger for picture purchases (47 percent of the purchasers said they were in the decorating cycle) it isn't surprising that purchasers above 45 years of age wait oned to buy less pictures, because their abiding-places were already decorated and they had little wall space. However, when they did purchase a picture, they usually wearied twice as much per unframed picture than the younger buyer according to the survey

The scan also found a buyer's horizontal of education and income horizontal affected what type of picture a purchaser bought For example, half of those who purchased a custom-framed picture were association graduates, and two-thirds reported an income of at least $75000 College-educated purchasers were also more likely to purchase from an art gallery or custom frame store and less likely to purchase a picture from a department store or furniture store.

vigors of the Industry

nearest Sher explained that a SWOT analysis (Strength Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) was administrationed on the entire industry in order to identify the powers and weaknesses within the industry and the opportunities and threats not away in its environment. A committee was formed to interview many long-time participants in the industry and included George Leeson president of Image Conscious; Bruce Lieberman, partner of Lieberman's Gallery; Sara Richards, managing director of Art collection USA; Aimee Talan, director of marketing at Winn Devon; James Meserve ceo of The Art Publishing Group; Scott Usher, president of the Greenwich Workshop; and Julie Freeman, executive director of the PPFA.

The first force Sher and the committee lay the foundation of was that that the picture industry is growing. According to a PPFA application of mind the industry grew by 114 percent in 1999 while Unity Marketing moveed the industry grew by 13 percent This is a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of faster than PDI (Personal Disposable Income, which grew 566 percent in 1999) which is beneficial news for the industry.

The fact that the picture industry is a decorating staple place in nearly every home is another force reported Sher. Also, the industry is innovation-driven, in like manner it is unlikely it will be deprived of the ability to make a reasonable profit. Compared to other industries, the picture industry also has a relatively depressed level of rivalry.

Weaknesses

The list of weaknesses was somewhat more extensive. A major weakness, according to the analysis, is confusion at the higher extreme point As Sher pointed out, "Diamonds have a central rating authority, for a like reason consumers are not confused. still no such thing exists for limited editions or pictures." This makes it more difficult for consumer to understand the value of what they are buying, other than by dint of trusting the retail salesperson, who is a biased individual.