I wanted to share an an article from PROMO magazine that reviews a recent study showing how the recession has impacted consumer’s habits and should affect marketing tactics as well…
Profound Shift in Consumer Saving and Spending: Survey
- Raising a fresh set of challenges for marketers, a new survey from Citi has found that consumers across all socioeconomic levels and ethnic groups have made permanent adjustments to both spending and savings to adapt to the economic climate.
The recession has proven particularly difficult for African Americans and Hispanics, who have dipped more often into savings to pay for expenses than the national sample of respondents and who are working longer hours to make ends meet, Citi said.
The survey found that 63% of Americans surveyed said their spending and saving habits have forever changed as a result of the recession. Less than a third, 29%, expect to return to their old spending ways.
Moving forward, marketers will have to craft messaging and promotions in a marketplace where 59% of respondents said they will continue to cut back on everyday expenses, 60% will continue to save and invest more, 61% will continue to cut down on credit card purchases and 63% will continue to reduce debt.
“This new survey points to a profound shift in the way people think about their saving and spending,” Eric Eve, senior vice president, global community relations at Citi, said in a release. “The current economic environment is altering, perhaps permanently, the way we think about spending money.”
Even more daunting, 42% of respondents are taking money out of savings or investments to help pay expenses and 53% have postponed the purchase of a major item such as an automobile.
As expected, people who earn the least amount of money were the most likely to cut back on everyday expenses (80%), followed by 76%for those who earn $50,000 - $75,000, 68% for those who earn $75,000 - $150,000.and 70% for those who earn more than $150,000.
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