MRI: Women's Titles See Reader Income Dropoff

At a time when women’s magazines are fighting for dollars in the still relatively solvent luxury ad category, some fashion/beauty titles’ readers are getting lighter in the wallet, according to new audience data.
 
Four magazines in the category saw a dropoff in their female readers’ median household incomes in Mediamark Research & Intelligence’s Spring audience report, released May 20.
 
While publishers are quick to point out that the MRI’s small audience size and its self-reported nature makes it somewhat unreliable, especially for smaller-circulation magazines, MRI’s twice-annual audience report remains, for better or for worse, the industry standard for magazine audience measurement and a factor in advertising negotiations, along with circulation, editorial and other criteria.
 
Among