Wealth Perception

Published 17 October 2012

There is a distinct difference between feeling wealthy and actually being wealthy. Individuals’ perception of their own status in relation to affluence confirms the fact that the notion of wealth is subjective and differs greatly across geographies.

Someone with no financial means whatsoever may feel wealthy, whereas a person with several million Dollars, Euros or Pounds to their name may not actually feel wealthy.

For this reason, CoreData Research UK has just carried out a global study assessing the attitudinal views of European, Asian, North American, South American, Middle Eastern and African consumers.

At a collective level, observing investor perceptions of wealth, one may postulate that wealth would be defined by differing characteristics.

For example, an individual living in a country hit harder by the financial crisis and subsequent market woes over the past five years may have a different outlook of to a person residing in a country that has been less affected and more resilient to the turbulence.

When asked the question do you consider yourself to be wealthy, for instance, there is likely to be personal bias in addition to an added country bias, which may see individuals from particular countries define wealth by the culture or the niche thinking of that country as well its economic situation at that time.

Another factor that may influence perceptions of wealth is the matter of relativity. People living in a country where the gap between the richest and the poorest is much higher may exhibit a different sense of wealth compared to people living in a country where there is a much more even distribution of wealth.

Furthermore, a popular position of many economists is the idea that having good financial institutions plays a key role in paving a country’s future wealth.

So an individual who lives in a country with better institutions may be in a wealthier environment without realising it. Meanwhile, somebody based in a less institutionally structurally sound environment (and incorporating factors such as inflation and interest rates) may in an apples for apples sense be less wealthy.

Therefore when viewing and assessing individual levels of sentiment, it is important to also understand the environment shaping the views of individuals in that country.

For example, the value of which a sense of being wealthy kicks may also be dependent on cross-border relativity (exchange rates) and standards of living and other factors within a given country. займы на карту без отказа

Inigo Rudio