Shopping on the Internet, once primarily a realm for bargain hunters and mid-market buys, is exerting a stronger influence on consumers of luxury products.

According to Unity Marketing`s latest Luxury Consumer Tracking Study, a quarterly study that tracks luxury consumers` usage of the Internet (average income $150,200, average age 43.6 years), 46 percent of buyers of jewelry, watches, luxury fashion, accessories and cosmetics used the Internet in support of their recent purchases.

In addition, consumers who used the Internet for home luxury products spent 11 percent more on their homes, while those who used the Internet for personal luxuries spent 12.5 percent more on average buying jewelry, watches, fashion and cosmetics.

Unity Marketing`s study also found that more than 40 percent of luxury consumers visited a social-networking site, such as Facebook, You Tube or My Space, in the past three months.

"Young affluents, those 40 years and under, were the most active social networkers, but even one-third of the over-40-year-old consumers reported visiting a social-networking site," Unity Marketing President Pam Danziger said in a statement.

As a new generation grows increasingly at ease with the Internet, a segment of luxury consumers does remain wary of a few factors. According to the study, some 35 percent of luxury consumers are very discouraged from using the Internet because of difficulties in returns and exchanges. In addition, 21 percent are uneasy about making big-ticket purchases, including jewelry, online.

For many, however, not only is the Internet a place to shop, but it`s a place to research purchases, especially to compare prices and to read other customers` reviews.

"The research also shows that [consumers] will visit a retailer`s Web site to `browse` before they head out to the store," Danziger said. "The lesson is that luxury marketers and retailers that offer their customers a Web site get a significant return on investment in terms of more spending."

Unity Marketing`s quarterly Luxury Consumer Tracking Study was most recently conducted in October. More than 1,000 luxury consumers participated.