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iPhone, iPad are strong indicators of high income, say researchers
According to economists Marianne Bertrand and Emir Kamenica, iPhones and iPads topped the list of devices used amongst the wealthy.
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A study found that if the respondent said they owned an iPhone, this gave the researchers a 69.1 percent chance of determining the person had a 'high income' and were in the top quartile for income. (AFP/Elijah Nouvelage)
Researchers from the University of Chicago have found that owning an iPhone and/or an iPad is the strongest sign of wealth.
The paper, "Coming Apart? Cultural Distances in the United States over Time" by economists Marianne Bertrand and Emir Kamenica, specifically looked at the difference in trends amongst groups of people, including income, education, gender, race and political ideology. They then looked at the brand usage in said groups, specifically in the years 1992, 2004 and 2016.
According to Bertrand and Kamenica, iOS devices iPhones and iPads topped the list of devices used amongst the wealthy. They found that if the respondent said they owned an iPhone, this gave the researchers a 69.1 percent chance of determining the person had a "high income" and were in the top quartile for income.
Read also: Apple plans giant high-end iPhone, lower-priced model
iPads came in second place, at 66. percent, and using mobile phone service Verizon Wireless came in third, at 61 percent, reported AppleInsider.
"Across all years in our data, no individual brand is as predictive of being high-income as owning an Apple iPhone in 2016," said the researchers. "Knowing whether someone owns an iPad in 2016 allows us to guess correctly whether the person is in the top or bottom income quartile 69 percent of the time.”
While the iPhone topped the list of wealth indicators in 2016, in 2004, the biggest indicator was using Land O' Lakes Regular butter at 59.2 percent, while in 1992 the indicator was the use of Grey Poupon Dijon mustard. (sul/kes)
