Millennial consumers want to give and receive diamond jewelry as much as any other age group, the Diamond Producers Association found in a recent online poll.
The post-Thanksgiving Day survey questioned 18-to-64-year-old consumers who are married or in a committed relationship, with a heavy sample of millennials. The survey found that, contrary to the feelings of many in the industry, younger consumers still consider diamond jewelry “an authentic meaningful gift,” says Sally Morrison, marketing director for the Diamond Producers Association.
“They are still very much invested in this category,” she says. “It may be a question of how we’re marketing and how we’re retailing, more than their feelings about the category itself. We have to work harder to connect with them.”
Other findings of the survey include:
—People still very much appreciate giving—and receiving—diamond jewelry.
“Everyone we spoke to that had been given a piece of diamond jewelry said it was their best gift ever,” Morrison says.
By contrast, consumers who didn’t receive diamond jewelry had trouble remembering their last holiday gift.
In addition, 80 percent of women who received a piece of diamond jewelry kept it and didn’t exchange it for another style or piece.
—The top category of diamond jewelry women want for the holiday? Diamond earrings and a diamond ring. For millennials, their third pick was a diamond solitaire necklace; for older consumers, it was a diamond tennis bracelet.
—Last holiday season, more than one quarter of men gave diamond jewelry to their wives or girlfriends. This year, one third plan to.
—Approximately one in 10 men say they are currently buying diamond jewelry online, though well over half of them research the purchase online first.
—All age groups say they’d rather receive one meaningful gift than lots of smaller gifts.
“It’s a post-2008 reality: People don’t want tons of stuff,” Morrison says. “They just want one thing that is really good.”
It’s the smaller gifts that end up getting returned or forgotten, the survey found.
Morrison says the DPA plans more attitudinal research on consumer feelings about diamonds.
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