The Conference Board has released a report claiming that consumers in the United States and Western Europe have remarkable similarities, especially in the amount of value they place on experiences.

The report, sponsored by Conde Nast Publications, Gucci Group, Gibson USA, The Ritz Carlton and Tru Vue, is based on an online survey of 1800 affluent consumers in the United States, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

The most popular definition of luxury was ‘having enough time to do whatever you want and being able to afford it.’ While this sounds more like a definition of wealth or freedom, it is certainly interesting. 35% of respondents named ‘time’ as best matching their personal definition of luxury, followed by ‘life experiences’ on 25%, and ‘comfort, beauty and quality’ on 18%.

Some of the other key findings from the study:

Luxury is less about the material things one has or one owns and more about how one experiences life, a sense of happiness and satisfaction (26% strongly agree)

Luxury is being comfortably well off and not having to worry about tomorrow (25% strongly agree)

Luxury is the finer things in life that surround you with extreme comfort, beauty, and quality (25% strongly agree)

Luxury is the “best of the best” in all aspects of your life (18 percent strongly agree)

Collections of antiques and rare items, original art, and holiday homes were popular everywhere. Interestingly, Italian luxury consumers had the highest share of vacation or second homes.

There were some notable cultural differences:

American consumers are noted for their interest in cable/satellite television, pets, physical fitness and health foods, electronics, and investing in stocks and bonds.

British consumers are distinctive in their strong interest in Internet and cell phone usage, videos/DVDs, wine, gourmet goods, health foods, avid book reading, and cable/satellite TV.

German consumers are more involved in reading books, attending cultural events, gardening, and home furnishings.

Italian consumers share many of the same interests as those in Germany, but they are more active in travel.

French consumers are similar to those in Germany and Italy, but with an even greater interest in gourmet food and wine.

China has the greatest interest in photography, electronics, and home furnishings.

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