In the news

Mar 29, 2010

Dear Prudence

Colloquy

by Sharon M. Goldman

We don’t often think of the Beatles as financial prophets—their “Tax Man” notwithstanding. In their 1968 song, “Dear Prudence,” the Beatles invited the star of that song to greet the new day, and indeed, prudence has come out to play. But it has arrived in a form that marketers may not have anticipated.

Call it prudence, frugality, thrift, or austerity—whatever term you choose to use, it’s clear that as we greet a brand-new decade, the wild spending of the pre-recession seems like just a faint memory. For today’s consumer, restraint rules.

Dr. Robbie Blinkoff, a consumer anthropologist and founder of Context-Based Research Group, which has worked with clients such as American Express, Nike and Procter & Gamble, believes the new prudence is the beginning of a cultural transformation: “We’re going from the world being defined by us as consumers to the world being defined by us as humans—and being a consumer is just part of that.”

In a new quantitative version of Context-Based Research Group’s 2008 study, Grounding the American Dream: A Cultural Study on the Future of Consumerism in a Changing Economy, 43% of respondents said they believe the recession has had a positive impact on their lives—the research suggests that Americans will keep a tight grip on their pocketbooks while they find enjoyment through more meaningful, less purchase-centric activities. For example, four-fifths of respondents plan to spend more time with family and friends this year compared to recent years.

“I think people are realizing that you can’t shop your way to enlightenment,” says Blinkoff. “The response to 9/11 was ’shop,’ while the response to the recession is ’don’t shop’—so now people are turning to non-consumerism behavior because people realize that the way to really be happy is to connect with others.” Blinkoff is quick to point out that that doesn’t mean people are going to stop shopping—but they are going to shop differently. “A big part of the way we spend will be spending that satisfies us socially—so it’s really about evaluating your purchases in terms of the social value it will bring to you.”

For Robbie Blinkoff, the new thinking is all about the ’grounded consumer’—who is more strategic and more thoughtful, who thinks about the social and the emotional as well as the rational point of purchasing. “They think about Value with a capital V,” he says. “This is definitely a post-recession consumer—83% of the consumers we studied said they are spending differently, really thinking through their purchases. Even if some of those people are saying one thing and will behave differently, it’s still a big difference. What may come out of this a couple of years from now is that people will be spending a lot of money but on less stuff, because they’ll have a very clear sense of what products they want in their life.”

The crux of all this, explains Blinkoff, is that the new post-recession consumer doesn’t think of himself or herself as one, requiring a new approach from marketers of all stripes. ” We believe retailers must gently nurture customers rather than aggressively targeting them as they may have in past years,” he says. “To see the world right now through a marketer’s eyes with only those lenses is a professional problem right now.”

Read the full article here

If you're a member of the media and you need assistance with a story, please contact:

• Tracey Cassidy
  Ph: 201-656-7178 ext. 202
• Jennifer Leckstrom
  Ph: 215.681.0770