The rapid development of an online market for luxury goods continues, according to the Luxury Institute, which reports that online apparel and accessories sales jumped 41 percent in 2005, while sales of jewelry and watches surged 31 percent. On average, wealthy Americans use the internet seven days a week for an average of 3.2 hours per day; those under 50 and worth more than $5 million are heavier users. Some 51 percent of wealthy consumers tell the Luxury Institute that they use the web to research products and services, and 43 percent say they "occasionally" or "frequently" buy products and services online.

Search, including paid placement, is the only online marketing method viewed as more effective than ineffective by luxury consumers, though the youngest and wealthiest consumers are unusually receptive to click-through banner ads. Younger wealthy Americans are also generally receptive to providing contact information in exchange for access to special reports and whitepapers. Women are more likely to sign up for free email alerts in exchange for contact info.

Ninety-two percent of wealthy consumers say they send and receive email; the No. 2 use cited by the wealthy is checking news and weather (58 percent), followed by planning travel (42 percent), and paying bills (40 percent). Nearly one-third of consumers worth $5 million or more visited a website because prompting via another medium, such as print or TV.

Nearly all (98 percent) of the wealthy access the web at home, and more than two-thirds do so at work, including more than 80 percent of wealthy people age 21-49 and more than four out of five wealthy persons with incomes between $200,000 and $500,000.

Wealthy Americans are most worried that email may deliver viruses and spam, and its use could potentially result in identity theft; those concerns increase with age. Concern over being tracked on large corporate databases is greater than apprehension about identity theft (85 vs. 59 percent).