Survey: Coupon clippers most likely are wealthy, educated

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. Wealthy, educated U.S. consumers are more likely to use coupons, according to a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive and Coupons.com.

The telephone survey -- conducted from March 5 to 8 -- found that among 1,017 adults ages 18 and older, 6-out-of-10 (61%) with a household income of $100,000 or more have redeemed a coupon in the past six months. Additionally, about 4-in-10 adults (39%) in this income bracket have redeemed coupons printed from an online source in the past six months, making them nearly twice as likely to do so as adults with a household income less than $35,000 (21%).

Furthermore, adults with college degrees are almost twice as likely to have used coupons in the past six months as those who didn’t graduate from high school. The survey also showed that this group of grads is more likely to make a purchase specifically to redeem a coupon, visit a product’s Web site to get a coupon and search for coupons online.

“The advent of digital savings tools coupled with a challenging economy has taken couponing mainstream. All sorts of people – including what we call the ‘sophisticated couponer’ – are proudly aboard the couponing bandwagon.” said Steven Boal, CEO of Coupons.com. “We all want the biggest bang for our buck, so the fact that well-heeled, educated and urban shoppers are taking advantage of coupons and searching for them online further illustrates the proliferation of the culture of couponing.”