The rich are not like you and me; they use more media

The top magazine reads in terms of average issue audience among the affluent and business elites in the U.S. is not, surprisingly, financial magazines, golf journals, or high-end luxury magazines: but People magazine, followed by House & Garden, National Geographic, and Sports Illustrated. And the affluent consume not only consume more print than the average citizen, but huge amounts of all sort of other media, according to a story in MediaDaily News.

The research has implications for any publisher who is in pursuit of high-end readership using what has become a commonplace hybrid strategy of print and online.

Research by Monroe Mendelsohn Research (MMR) and Ipsos both found that the elite -- representing just 0.26% of the U.S. adult population, but earning an aggregate $246 billion annually -- are voracious users of all media, often in unexpected ways.

Nearly a third (31%) reported reading an online blog at least once a month, while 5% said they have personally contributed to a blog, statistics that surprised even the Ipsos research team.

"When we added that question for this year's survey, I told people not to expect anything," Hugh White, director of Ipsos admits, citing other noteworthy digital media stats, including the fact that nearly a quarter (23%) of the elite business audience reported downloading a podcast in the past month, and that their overall usage of the Web is growing more prevalent. More than half (54% ) reported visiting a business related Web sites, while the overall daily online reach has grown 6% since Ipsos' 2006 study.