PMA Data Watch: Camera or camcorder purchasing activity by demographic segment

According to the 2009 PMA U.S. Consumer Photo Buying Report, 13.7 percent of U.S. households obtained a new camera or camcorder in 2008. This was a drop from 15.2 percent in the previous year. In addition, 12.4 percent of households purchased a new camera or camcorder in 2008. Not surprisingly, higher income households were much more likely to have purchased a new camera or camcorder in 2008. Only 8 percent of households with an annual income below $30,000 purchased one in 2008, but this figure more than doubles, to 18 percent, for households earning an annual income of $75,000 and more. Higher income households also spent more on each camera or camcorder, on average, than lower income households.
  Younger households were also more likely than their higher income counterparts to purchase a camera or camcorder in 2008. Households headed by someone younger than 34 years old were more than three times as likely as those headed by someone 65 years and older to have purchased one. In fact, there was a negative correlation between age and the likelihood of purchasing a new camera or camcorder. Older households, however, spent more per unit than younger households.
  Households with children present are also more than twice as likely as those without to have purchased a new camera or camcorder in 2008. Households where the female head is employed full-time are most likley to have purchased a new unit this past year. Households where the female head is unemployed are almost twice as likely as those who are unemployed to have purchased cameras this past year.
  The 2009 PMA U.S. Consumer Photo Buying Report is now available in the marketing research area of the PMA website.