Yowza, a mobile computing application that allows users to search for nearby, participating retailers either via zip code or by using the device's GPS, is building an audience for its technology in part by appealing to luxury buyers.

Certain brands like Crate & Barrel are more willing to offer coupons via smartphones compared to traditional avenues because mobile coupons - delivered via sleek and expensive smartphones - are sexy and novel, says Greg Grunberg, co-creator.

There is a growing contingent of retailers that are experimenting with Yowza's platform that wouldn't ordinarily offer coupons, or do so on very limited basis, including Traditional Jewelers, Kiehl's, the Container Store, Aveda Salons, Planet Funk, a high-end clothing store, Klingman's Furniture, Gelson's, an upper crust super market, and American Gold Corp.

$100,000 in Income

Now, new data from Coupons.com suggest that Yowza is on to something. In a new survey, it found that consumers with an income of $100,000 or more are among the most likely to use coupons. Six out of 10 adults (61%) with a household income of $100,000 or more have redeemed a coupon in the past six months.

Additionally, about four 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%), writes MarketingCharts.

Stigma Free Discounting

What high-end retailers and consumer like about mobile coupon is that it removes the stigma of discounting," Grunberg says. "Their customers wouldn’t be embarrassed to be using a coupon this way either - for example, you can't hand over a paper coupon at a business lunch in an expensive restaurant to the server without being embarrassed. But it's nothing to give her your cell."

Also from the Coupons.com survey:

Educated, Metro Consumers Use Coupons
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 shows that this group of grads is also more likely to make a purchase specifically to redeem a coupon, visit a product’s website to get a coupon and search for coupons online. In addition, more than three in four adults (77%) who have used coupons in the past six months live in metro areas.

Male Couponing Behavior Increases

Men are increasingly using coupons, according to study results. About one in two adult males (51%) have used a coupon in the past six months. Not only are they using coupons, but more than one-third of men (36%) responded that they even have a designated place to keep their coupons Men are also just as likely as women to spread information about coupons: 18% of men have told a friend about a coupon they found online.

Coupon Popularity Not Directly Tied to Economy

Although usage of coupons by wealthy and male consumers has increased during the current economic recession, overall, consumers plan to continue using them even if the economy improves. Eighty percent of US adults plan to continue to engage in couponing activities, according to the survey findings.

Coupons.com CEO Steven Boal said the increased access to coupons provided by digital and mobile devices has turned couponing into a learned behavior. “Frugal is the new black and couponing is here to stay,” said Boal.