Lexington, Kentucky, USA - June 25, 2001 - WhatTheyThink.com, the leading on-line community and research firm in the graphic arts industry, surveyed print buyers about their perception of price increases. This survey took place with 247 print buyers from a variety of industry segments located throughout the United States and is the second of a two part look at prices. The buyers were asked: In context of a slowing economy and higher expenses including increased energy prices, which would best describe your action if your primary print vendor raised their overall prices by 5% to 10%? Overall, 27 percent of these buyers said they would understand and take no action. However, 66 percent said they would have to examine other options if their prices were to increase. (7 percent had no opinion.) When cross tabulated by industry segment, the findings indicate several opportunities. 40 percent of ad agencies said they would understand if their prices increased 5 to 10 percent and 34 percent of manufacturing firms said they would not react to an increase. The industry segment most sensitive to price increases were Nonprofit organizations. Only 23 percent of print buyers within these organizations said they would understand a 5 to 10 percent move in price. The numbers remained relatively the same when cross checking the print buyer’s annual budget. Of buyers spending over $500,000 on print, only 23 percent said they would not mind a price increase. 31% of print buyers who described their annual print spend between $50,000 and $500,000 said a price increase would not be met with action. Of buyers spending less than $50,000 annually, 26 percent said they would understand a price increase of 5 to 10 percent.