• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 18, 2008

According to a new MDR report detailing the attitudes and buying habits of teachers, more than half of them have traveled abroad in the past few years, one-fourth of them are always buying the latest high-tech gadgets to hit store shelves, and 73% of them seek out stores that carry their favorite brand names.

Almost 80% say that the Internet has influenced how they learn about products, with 49% revealing that they have used the Internet to research or obtain information within the past month. 

The report: A Look at Teachers in the Consumer Market: Attitudes, Preferences, and Buying Behavior, finds that teachers stand out from the general population because they are more likely to be married, have children, and own their own homes:

• The mean household income for educators is $117,000, compared with the mean household income of $80,900 for the general pool of survey respondents
• 62% invest compared with 38% of the general population
• Educators have 403(b) accounts with no pre-selected providers so teachers are more proactive in their investment decisions compared with other U.S. workers

Teachers as brand-loyal consumers who are more likely to pay a premium for quality, says the report, while keeping an eye on good bargains. Of the teachers surveyed:

• 77% say they would pay more for a high-quality product
• 65% indicate that they shop for bargains or discounts compared with just 53% of the general public
• 75% of the teachers surveyed say that they do their homework before making a purchasing decision on expensive items
• 92% have and use credit cards once a purchase decision is made

Moira McArdle, Vice President of Marketing for MDR, concludes that "... educators are an extremely attractive consumer segment... they... buy more in most every consumer vertical, from apparel to travel to financial services... a hot segment for direct marketers of consumer goods and services."

The report, A Look at Teachers in the Consumer Market, is based on information collected from 1000 educators during a Simmons National Consumer Survey.

Read more about MDR here.