A study sponsored by the Italian Goldsmiths’ Club on the aspirations and behavior of jewelry shoppers.
What do those who enter a jewelry store want? A study sponsored by the Italian Goldsmiths’ Club, in collaboration with the Lombardy Goldsmiths’ Association, Federorafi Confindustria, Federpreziosi Confcommercio, and with the support of Intesa Sanpaolo, Unoaerre Industries, and de’ Nobili, seeks to answer this question. The study, led by Marco Petroni, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, and Alba Cappellieri, Head of Jewelry at the Polytechnic University of Milan, concludes: there is no longer just one type of jewelry, the traditional one, but many different models. Furthermore, for those who haven’t noticed, we are living in complicated times. In Italy (but likely also in the rest of the West), pollster Nando Pagnoncelli concludes, three factors are shifting the scale of priorities: Covid has increased the sense of uncertainty and precariousness and heightened awareness of values such as time, affection, and the environment, albeit within the confines of limited social relationships. Inflation is generating reduced purchasing power, especially among younger generations, eroding savings among older generations, and ultimately prompting an adjustment in purchasing and consumption behavior. The conflict in Ukraine fuels a sense of insecurity and an awareness of energy dependence. The result is a broadening of the base of the social pyramid, with the most significant finding being the rise of the poorest social classes and the erosion of the middle class; many, in fact, consider themselves to be in decline.
Furthermore, Pagnoncelli continues, today’s consumer has been defined with three adjectives: hedonistic, disoriented, and attentive. That is, a consumer seeking satisfaction, unfortunately disoriented in their choices due to the socioeconomic context, but still more aware and informed than the consumer of thirty years ago. Consumers adapt their purchasing and consumption behavior to maintain their current standard of living; they buy what’s best for them. Brands today are experiencing a strong demand for simplicity and simplification. And in this uncertain environment, digital information (websites and social media) plays a predominant role in decisions.
The world has changed, contexts have changed, as have purchasing behaviors and customer needs. A long and in-depth study involving hundreds of jewelry stores and their customers, to go beyond the numbers and get to the heart and emotions that drive purchases, and to analyze the more or less unconscious, yet difficult-to-identify, impulses that drive people to shop in jewelry stores. The work has uncovered a wealth of stimuli that must, however, be adapted to individual and specific situations.
Maria Cristina Squarcialupi, President of the Italian Goldsmiths’ Club
