Recession recovery heralds ‘new world order of consumption’
Consumers worldwide are less anxious about the recession this year, but are still spending cautiously, according to a new global survey with implications for implementation of marketing strategies.
According to a report in Ad Week, anxiety levels among consumers are highest in Spain, Mexico and Japan, and more than half of the respondents in India, the United States and France remain worried about the future.
However, the percentages of respondents claiming to be anxious in regards to spending are down from last year. Only 54% of US respondents characterised themselves as anxious this year compared to 63% last spring, but this is still higher than the pre-recession level of 42% in spring 2007.
The survey, conducted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), concludes that businesses should regularly assess marketing processes such as product pricing and in-store marketing. BCG also suggests that marketers respond to this climate by innovating with products featuring “quality and craftsmanship” in home-based categories such as furnishings, appliances and electronics.
These categories, according to BCG, continue to thrive amid the economic tensions as consumers look homewards for comfort. Further, BCG expects this trend to continue beyond the recession, claiming, “anxiety about the future and mistrust of big business have triggered a ‘back-to-basics’ movement in which consumers continue to rank home, family, stability and the environment high on their list of values.”
Factoring in geographical variations in its findings, BCG projects a “multispeed recovery” from the recession, in which countries like China, Brazil and India will recover faster than mature markets like the US and Europe.
BCG partner and co-author of the report Catherine Roche said: “Companies face a new world order of consumption. It will require them to rethink their growth expectations and develop a highly de-averaged approach.”
More than 12,000 consumers in 14 countries took part in BCG’s survey, which was conducted both online and offline.
Tags: global marketing
