Study: 'Blood Diamond' has minor affect on holiday sales

Two percent of Blood Diamond viewers did not buy jewelry this holiday season because of the film, according to a post-holiday study conducted by the Jewelry Consumer Opinion Council (JCOC).The study, held from Dec. 28, 2006 through Jan. 3, 2007, polled 2,961 JCOC panelists.

A quarter of those polled did purchase fine jewelry or watches as a gift this holiday season, down from 28.1 percent in the JCOC's holiday 2005 study. More than a third of those surveyed who did not purchase fine jewelry or watches claimed it was because of financial reasons. Of those respondents who did purchase, 45 percent spent more on jewelry and 21 percent spent more on watches than in previous years.

Nearly a quarter of all fine-jewelry purchasers spent more than $500 this holiday season.Independent retailers and department stores were the most popular retail venues for fine-jewelry purchases this holiday season. The JCOC, a division of MVI Marketing Ltd., is an Internet-based, niche market-research service providing the gem, jewelry and watch industries with market intelligence about their products and consumers. For more information about the study, visit JCOC.info.