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In the United States, if you have an Apple iPhone or iPad, it is a strong sign that you are making a lot of money.
This is one of the points to remember from a new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research economists of the University of Chicago, Marianne Bertrand and Emir Kamenica.
"All the years in our data, no individual brand is as predictive of being high-income as owning an Apple iPhone in 2016," the researchers wrote.
There are details and warnings about research, but economists have found that owning an iPhone gives them a 69% chance of correctly inferring that the owner was "high income". for households of this type – such as a single adult or a couple with dependents, for example.
iPhones being closely correlated with high income is a recent trend, according to research. After all, iPhones were introduced only in 2007. In 2004, Land O & # 39; s Lake butter and Kikkoman soy sauce were predictive for high income households. In 1992, Gray Poupon mustard was the strongest sign of a rich family.
"Knowing if someone owns an iPad in 2016 allows us to correctly guess if the person is in the top or bottom income quartile 69% of the time," they write. Research also suggests that owning an Android phone or using Verizon are strong indicators of being high income as well.
The iPhone is a luxury product that is usually more expensive than competing smartphones. While some low-end Android phones are selling as little as $ 100 or less, Apple has recently raised the price of its high-end iPhone to $ 999 or more.
The researchers used data from Mediamark Research Intelligence, whose sample size was 6,394 people. The data include bi-annual questionnaires as well as information such as household income from a face-to-face interview.
The article looks at how different groups – such as the rich and the poor, blacks and whites, men and women – have seen their preferences diverge over time. Economists have used a machine learning algorithm to conclude that "cultural differences", or the way brands and common experiences are distributed among groups, do not grow over time.
"This takeaway goes against the popular narrative of the United States, which is becoming an increasingly divided society," the researchers write.
In addition to researching favorite brands, the NBER article also includes tables on which television shows, movies, and magazines tend to read. Economists have also examined consumer behavior and social attitudes through demographics.
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