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Marketers ad academic strive to
uderstad ad gai isights ito
the mriad was i which cosumers
behave. The questio is who is
drivig who? Are customers reall as
complicated as we make them out to be
or are marketers creatig the moster
cosumers that the are the trig to
serve i iovative was?
Was cosumer behaviour complicated
ad promiscuous whe Her Ford wrote
i his autobiograph1 - "Any customer
can have a car painted any colour that he
wants, so long as it is black"? It was all
about stadardisatio, ad cosumers
appeared to be coteted participats i
the mass market. So, how did busiess
marketig move rom stadardisatio
through dieretiatio to persoalisatio
ad idividualisatio to empowermet o
the cosumer?
The aswer ma lie i the itroductio
OXIRM
RESEARCHTHEMES
COnSUMERBEHAVIOUROVER THE
LAST 25yEARS
By MALOBI KAR, RESEARCHFELLOW, OXFORD InSTITUTEOF RETAIL MAnAGEMEnT
AGE 46 OXIRM RESEARCH THEMES
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ad gradual domiatio o iormatio
techolog i our dail lives, i
combiatio with the ifuece o
macro evirometal chages drivig
compaies to serve customers ecietl
i the ame o persoalisatio,
idividualisatio ad empowermet.
Empowermet ad the resultat mutual
beets became a source o competitive
advatage. What ma ot have bee
obvious to these ewl-empowered
customers was that with empowermet
came resposibilit ad accoutabilit.
Ad heres the paradox the ew age
customer wated to be empowered, but
was hesitat to take o the resposibilit
ad accoutabilit that came with
it. The result was disgrutled ad
dejected cosumers who were orever
o the lookout or the best optio ad
ruthless whe it came to switchig
rom oe orgaisatio to aother. This
behaviour was urther exacerbated b the
ma choices available to cosumers.
The patters o chage i cosumer
behaviour, the triggers o this chage ad
the impact o orgaisatioal strateg
ad societ i geeral, are traced i the
ollowig sectios.
EARLY CONSUMERS
A discussio o the cosumer over
the last 25 ears caot igore the
cosumers who came beore i the
1950s, 1960s ad 1970s. Cosumer
behaviour has chaged greatl over
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the last 25 ears, but it has bee
evolutioar ad the seeds o chage
have bee apparet or geeratios.
Marketig scholars rom the 1950s used
Pavlovia learig models ad Freudia
pschoaaltic models to uderstad the
cosumer psche.
The Pavlovia model was based o our
cetral cocepts those o drive, cue,
respose ad reiorcemet. These
models wet a log wa towards explaiig
how particular resposes are evoked ol
i relatio to a particular coguratio
o cues. For the marketer this meat
desigig advertisemets to reiorcethe use o specic products eective
advertisig was see as a cue to evoke the
drives associated with those cues.
Freudia pschoaaltical models
wet a ew steps urther i idetiig
the motives ad smbols behid a
particular purchase. A deeper level o
uderstadig o cosumer behaviour
was sought usig such models. Caadia
marketig proessor Jud Zaichkowsk
commets that such theories ad
their applicatio i this area made
or ar more iterestig readig tha
the graphs ad curves o ecoomics2.
These earlier techiques uderpied
later developmets. Marketers ad
academics became sesitised to the
act that a cosumers shoppig list
provided valuable iormatio. A stud
b America behaviourist Frakli
B. Evas3 sought to determie the
diereces i persoalit traits betwee
those who bought Ford ad those who
bought Chevrolet but the stud did ot
ield a meaigul result. What was
importat though, was that mechaisms
to uderstad cosumer behaviour
were chagig rapidl. Accordig to
Zaichkowsk, the iabilit to alwas
uderstad cosumer motivatio also
resulted i the cosumer o the 1950s
ad 1960s beig labelled as the
irratioal pschotic purchaser.
The itroductio o the US Cosumer
Bill o Rights i 1963 gave the cosumera elevated status: B providig a
social cotract betwee busiess ad
societ, the Govermet took o the
resposibilit o protectig the rights o
the cosumer. These icluded the right
to saet, the right to be iormed, the
right to choose ad the right to be heard.
The market place i the US became ar
more diversied, segmetatio strategies
gaied importace ad the seeds
were sow o customer-cetricism.
Mauacturers could o loger simpl
produce - cosumer eeds ad wats
eeded to be take ito accout.
Cosumers had choice or the rst time
ad were aware o it.
However, this so-called customer-cetricism was limited to a mass market
iudated with products mauactured
alog the assembl lie. Fordism was
commo ad was accompaied b the
Levittia priciples o service ecouters
as services were sstematised
through plaig, optimal processes,
cosistec, ad capital itesive
ivestmets. This model was the
oudatio o the success o McDoalds
ad ma other mass service providers
i the 1970s ad 1980s.
Cosumers graduall became receptive
to the idea that products ad services
were widel available ad were thereore
activel searchig or iormatio about
what the bought. Zaichkowsk labels this
ew thikig cosumer as the problem
solver. The 1970s cotiued to see the
rise o the cosumer as a problem solver
i a marketplace iudated with brads
ad product iormatio. However,
cosumer research i the 1970s also
discovered that cosumer memor was
short-lived ad the cosumers were
strugglig to cope with iormatio
overload. Zaichkowsk observes i
this cotext, that whilst the umber
o choices available to cosumers was
icreasig durig the 1970s, the skills
required to process ad retai all this
iormatio was limited.
TIME-POOR CONSUMERS
OF THE 1980S
While the 1970s was or ma thedecade o makig choices ad copig
with the diculties o iormatio
overload, the 1980s saw the advet o
cosumers who disegaged rom high
ivolvemet decisio makig. The lack
o discretioar time i a eviromet
o choice triggered a cosumer decisio
makig-process based o rules o
thumb to simpli the purchase process.
Such rough measures tpicall cetred
aroud buig the cheapest products,
buig the well-kow brads or
makig purchase decisios based o
recommedatios rom rieds.
The abudace o iormatio i a
cluttered eviromet ad the lack
o support i iormatio hadlig allcotributed to a situatio where the cost
o thikig was recogised as a limitig
actor i processig choices, givig rise
to customers Zaichkowsk terms the
cogitive miser. Further actors arose
rom chages i socio-demographics
such as the risig umber o wome
i the workorce, a icrease i sigle
paret households ad risig umbers
o people workig at weekeds. The
oudatios or coveiece shoppig
ad coveiece products were
thereore laid dow durig the 1980s.
The busiess implicatios were see i
the emergece o catalogue shoppig,
home TV shoppig ad direct marketig
all geared towards attractig these
time-pressured cosumers b simpliig
their decisio makig process.
Academic thikig alog customer-
cetric busiesses had progressed
beod what was beig see i practice.
new york Uiversit academics Carol
Surpreat ad Michael Solomo
published a paper4 i the Joural
o Marketig that gave isights ito
how busiesses could icreasigl
persoalise their strategies to meet the
eeds o cosumers.
MANY DIFFERING
CONSUMERS OF THE 1990S
The 1990s saw chages i cosumer
behaviour ad levels o egagemet
betwee cosumers ad busiesses
shit. O the socio-demographic rot,wester ecoomies prepared to ace the
cosequeces o a ageig populatio.
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The ageig bab boomers ad the rise
o immigratio to wester coutries
rom the developig ecoomies saw
a rapid trasitio i the damics o
cosumer behaviour. Marketers also
saw a ew, potetiall afuet segmet
o cosumers withi this ageig group.
I the UK or example, the spedig
power o the pesioers (the power o
the gre poud) was see as a busiess
opportuit, ad services tailored
specicall to meet the requiremets o
this portio o the populatio became
a wa orward i a otherwise shrikig
market. However, this was more o a
iche pheomeo.
The bab-boomers bor i the post
World War II era would be at the peak
o their careers b the 1990s, holdig
proessioal qualicatios ad stable
corporate jobs. While o the oe had
there was a ageig populatio, the
market also witessed the growth
o a corporate culture with prooud
implicatios or liestle ad attitude
chage amogst cosumers. Icreasig,
job stabilit ad risig job opportuities
meat there was securit i meetig the
basic eeds i lie at which poit the
qualit o lie rather tha material goods
became a priorit. Ejomet o the er
aspects o lie (outside o the ormal
work eviromet) became a source o
satisactio. Cosumer demad was o
loger limited to products ad services.
Accordig to Ke Dchtwald ad Greg
Gable5 o commuicatios, marketig ad
cosultig rm Age Wave, icreasigl
there was a eed or the experiece
that came with buig ad cosumig
products ad services. Cosumers
became more itrospective ad ocused
o the amil. Househusbads became
more commo, ad husbads also
recogised the advatages o havig
a workig wie. Dual icome amilies
became commoplace, household chores
ad purchasig goods ad services
became more o a collective decisio.
Wome ad childre bega to pla a
bigger role i the purchase decisio
makig process.
I additio to these developmets,
a etirel ew segmet o immigrat
cosumers etered the markets o
wester coutries, especiall i the
US ad the UK. The ifuece came
primaril rom the Southeast Asia ad
South Asia immigrats. The took
with them their cultural values ad
livig stle, ad cotributed urther
to the chagig socio-demographics
i these wester cultures. Withi
these immigrat commuities, three
geeratios would ote live together
it was a cohesive group ad major
decisios were take joitl. This
was also refected i their shoppig
behaviour, which placed emphasis ocollective decisio makig.
I north America, there was also a
declie i the idividual purchasig
power o cosumers ad purchase
decisio makig became more o a
collective eort. The chagig decisio
makig patters together with reduced
purchasig power had its impact o the
existig retailig structure i the wester
ecoomies. Bulk purchasig ad categor
purchasig to realise ecoomies o
scale became a commo pheomeo.
Retailers who were quick to react bega
to tailor their ormats, ad there was a
rise o hpermarkets, discout stores
ad supermarkets. The cocept o
coveiece took o a dieret meaig
as it was o loger limited to dig the
right product i the right place it was
about dig all the products i oe
place to miimise time ad eort. As
cost o livig wet up, cosumers oud
it cheaper to move to suburbs: Retailers
ollowed suit ad this saw the begiig
o out-o-tow ad edge-o-tow retailig
i wester markets.
The busiess, marketig ad retail,
the implicatios o the chagig
cosumer prole o the 1990s were
maiold. Busiesses bega to proclaim
themselves as beig customer-cetric.
The shitig customer base meat
costat iovatio i product, ad
service strateg became a source o
competitive advatage. Customers hadmore ad more to choose rom but
the decisio-makig process became
Te ageing babyboomers and therise of immigrationto western countriesfrom the developingeconomies saw arapid transition inthe dynamics ofconsumer behaviour.
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complex as the umber o decisio
makers spread over a wider spectrum
o age, geder ad culture. Busiesses
also recogised the value o retaiig
cosumers ad appreciatig the
lietime value o cosumers. Customer
relatioship maagemet became the
ew busiess matra ad the abilit to
acquire ad retai existig customers
became the most talked (ad writte)
about topic or maagemet academics
ad practitioers.
Dieretiatio, persoalisatio ad
maagemet o customer portolios
became amiliar terms, ad customersrealised that busiesses would
be competig or their custom.
Cosequetl, cosumers bega to
demad high stadards o service
qualit. Maagig expectatios, gaiig
customer eedback ad dealig with
customer complaits became itegral
to good busiess practice. With a
icreasig emphasis o satisig
cosumers, i-store ambiece,
atmospherics, dcor, ease ad comort
o shoppig became sigicat i
deig the etire shoppig experiece.
The itagible elemet i a iteractio
betwee the buer ad seller became a
crucial elemet i desigig busiess
strategies. Marketig ad sellig o
services were thrust to the orerot o
busiess processes.
EMPOWERED AND TECH-
SAVVY CONSUMERS OF THE
EARLY 2000S
B the begiig o the ew milleium,
the Iteret prooudl chaged
cosumer behaviour. The era o olie
shoppig dawed: Betwee 2003 ad
2004, olie shoppig i America had
rise b 26 percet to USD55 billio
accordig to statistics produced b
Americas Departmet o Commerce,
although this was still ol 1.6 percet
o the total retail sales i the US6
The vast majorit o the people were
cotiuig to bu thigs i the bricks
ad mortar world. A sigicat chage
was that time-poor, thrit cosumerswere ow ivestigatig product prices
ad details olie, ad cocludig the
purchase phsicall i the stores. This
was the case with 60 millio cosumers
i Europe, most o whom were shoppig
olie or the simple, predictable
products such as DVDs beore
graduatig to more complex items.
I the US, three out o our cosumers
were shoppig or ew cars olie eve
though the al purchase was earl
alwas made rom traditioal dealers.
However, the cosumer was eterig the
store armoured with iormatio about
the products as well as best available
deals. The ed result o this was the
emergece o the empowered, iormed,sophisticated ad icreasigl ckle
cosumer.
But this was ol the begiig. With
the advet o cosumer-drive olie
ad ope source iovatio, cosumer
empowermet was take to a completel
dieret level. Cosumers were ow
activel egaged i desigig products
ad services to meet their eeds ad
were actig as advisors to the service
providers. So how did this happe?
As techological chages accelerated,
competitive pressures orced compaies
to augmet their kowledge ad
capabilities. Keepig the customer at
the cetre o the busiess, orgaisatios
had to ideti iovative was to provide
tailored products ad services to tech-
savv, well-iormed cosumers. Some
rms were able to make advatage
rom these sophisticated cosumers
b ivolvig them i the process o
iovatio. Eric Vo Hippel, Proessor o
Techological Iovatio i the MIT Sloa
School o Maagemet reers to this as
democratisig iovatio7 This process
gave users (eterprises or customers)
the opportuit to become ivolved
with iovatio o requisite products
ad services that the could the reel
release, ulike i traditioal iovatio
where the mauacturers idetied
user eeds, developed the products ad
the looked to make prots rom sellig
them. I cases o ope iovatio, usersteded to iovate collaborativel i
commuities. How did cosumers behave
ad egage i this process? The were
ivolved i the process right rom the
iovatio stage through to product/
service lauch stage.
At the idea-geeratio stage i
e-busiess, rms emphasised richess
over reach i their collaborative
arragemets with customers: Fewer but
higher qualit customers became the
target. Blogs ad wikis were the tpical
examples o iormal ad ree fow o
thought withi the rm. Oce a viable
idea was geerated, it was ecessar to
develop the idea ito a comprehesive
cocept that could be urther tailoredto meet the eeds ad preereces
o customers. At the cocept-testig
stage, customers were give the optio
to make trade-os amog attributes o
ew product cocepts usig dieret
web-based implemetatios. I order to
allow customers to participate directl i
the product desig stage, rms created
various toolkits to acilitate user-drive
iovatio. Such toolkits gave customers
the optio to make desig-related
chages icludig price, perormace
ad appearace. At the test ad lauch
stage, members o the virtual commuit
took o the role o buers ad ed-
users, ad gave the rm eedback o
the product ater virtual presetatios
ad simulatios. Google was oe o the
orgaisatios that started to rel o user
experiece groups to gure out what Web
surers like ad aimed to determie what
chages made the service easier to use.
US academic Robert Koziets idetied
dieret kids o users withi the olie
commuit that var depedig o
the tpes o social ties the keep ad
their level o ivolvemet withi the
commuit8. The are characterised as:
- tourists lack strog ties but have
short-lived cotemporar iterest i
the topic;
- miglers maitai strog social ties
but are ot ver ivolved with the
topic;
- devotees are highl ivolved withthe topic but ot related to the
commuit ad
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USA: Te Economy akes its oll on Organics
- isiders who are both strogl
associated with the commuit ad
highl ivolved i the topic.
The users particularl well suited to
virtual ew product developmet are
those who are devoted, ethusiastic,
activel ivolved ad sophisticated
i their iteractio withi the olie
commuit. The tpicall exhibit what
is kow as lead user characteristics.
Their eeds are usuall ahead o the
others i the commuit ad the also
possess i-depth techical kowledge
ad a geeral uderstadig o product
uctioalities. The share ma o the
characteristics o the earl adopters o
the iovatio diusio model. This was
the case with Threadless9 a commuit-
cetred olie apparel store ru b
skiCorp, Chicago. The ouder Jake
nickell used his olie rieds rom web
desig site Dreamless.org where hespet time i the orum, talkig to his
olie rieds ad egagig i Photoshop
teis. I Photoshop teis, desigers
would pass digital photographs back
ad orth, ad challege oe aother
to maipulate images i the most
outrageous was possible.
Withi the Dreamless.org commuit,
Jake nickell had a read base o activel
ivolved dedicated desigers whe he
decided to ru the rst desig competitio
or Threadless. The iovatig compa
would tpicall beet rom the isights
o such users at the idea geeratio ad
cocepts stage as well as i desigig
ad egieerig. To stimulate ideas rom
the virtual commuit, rms orgaised
olie idea cotests ad i some cases
virtual stock markets to ideti qualied
commuit members. Members o the
Threadless commuit submit t-shirt
desigs olie. The desigs are the put
to a public vote. A small percetage o
submitted desigs are selected or pritigad sold through a olie store, ad
through two phsical stores i Chicago.
Creators o the wiig desigs receive a
prize o cash ad store credit.
Commuit ad userdrive iovatio
has see the cosumers egage with
orgaisatios i a advisor capacit.
With this orm o iovatio, cosumer
empowermet at the start o the ew
milleium was o loger limited to sel-
help as we experiece i the case o user
riedl kiosks i airports ad retail stores.
This was a case o real ivolvemet
with the service provider, where the
empowered cosumers were activel
egagig with the service provider.
GREEN AND ETHICAL
CONSUMPTION IN THE MID
2000S
A otable chage i cosumer behaviour
i the mid 2000s came rom a
icreasig awareess o evirometal
issues. Evirometalism has, over theears, become deepl rooted i the
cosumer mid set ad i public polic.
+35%
+30%
+25%
+20%
+15%
+10%
+5%
0%
4W/E02/25/06
4W/E05/20/06
4W/E08/12/06
4W/E11/04/06
4W/E01/27/06
4W/E04/21/07
4W/E07/14/07
4W/E10/06/07
4W/E12/29/07
4W/E03/22/08
4W/E06/14/08
4W/E09/06/08
4W/E11/29/08
4W/E02/21/09
4W/E05/16/09
Monthly sales growth
o organics below 4% in
last fve periods
Source: Scantrack and Labelrends, Services o Te Nieslen Company; (FDM ex-Walmart) % change in our week USD sales vs. YAGO
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I terms o chagig cosumer behaviour,
this traslated ito cosumers embracig
gree products ad services over the past
decade. The are ver ote prepared
to pa a premium or the chace to do
good ad i ma cases, be see to be
doig good as Paul Flatters ad Michael
Willmott o the social ad cosumer
treds cosultac Trajector poit out10.
Cosumers i the west realised that
sustaiabilit, recclig, orgaic ood,
bottled water, waste ad the global
eviromet as a whole are all related to
the actios the chose to take toda11.
Ethical cosumptio also itersected withgree cosumptio durig this period
airl-traded products, locall-sourced
produce, ad eggs laid b cage ree hes
were ote more expesive compared
to traditioal alteratives. The ethical
wester cosumers would thereore gai
the moral high groud b showig their
loalt to ethical ad gree products.
The questio to ask i this cotext would
be the extet to which the ethical ad
gree cosumer represeted the mass
customer audiece. Critics o the Fair
Trade movemet have labelled it as a
iche cocept deemed appropriate or
the privileged ew o our societ who
have the luxur o time (ad moe)
to dwell o these issues o busiess
marketig. Fair Trade was see as
automaticall assumig a certai refexive
cosumer who was also represetative
o a particular positio i terms o
class, educatio ad/or level o existig
kowledge. Or, i other words, Fair Trade
was a luxur a ew could aord.
The criticism could be coutered
b suggestig that havig a iche
cosumer base represeted some
advacemet i the eld o ethical
busiess. However, questios still
remaied about the autheticit o Fair
Trades lik with cosumer sel-iterest.
Gree cosumerism was ar more
strogl embedded i cosumer culture
ad sel-iterest. This was attributable
to a icreasigl health-cosciouscosumer, especiall i the developed
wester markets.
The liks to ethical cosumerism
however cotiued to remai suspect.
The lack o trasparec i the suppl
chai ad the impact o the supposed
beets o Fair Trade o the lives o
those producig the products exacerbate
this problem. Furthermore, there is the
questio o whether cosumers are ull
iormed about Fair Trade. The pictorial
depictio o armers o the packagig
strikes the right chord with cosumers
to the poit o eablig the decisio
makig ad cotributig to the eel-
good actor associated with Fair Trade
purchase. Hece the risk o lack o
uderstadig o how Fair Trade mightcotribute to improvig the lives o the
producers weakes a possible lik to
ethical cosumerism.
For all o the cicism aroud gree ad
ethical cosumerism, the more pertiet
questio to ask would be about the uture
o such cosumerism. AC nielse report
o the post-recessio cosumer poits
to the arrested treds vis-a-visethical
ad gree cosumerism, especiall i the
wester developed world.
Flatters ad Willmott suggest that
like most altruistic spedig, ethical
cosumerism will take a back seat i the
curret recessio. Their ratioale or this
claim is quite straightorward whe
people are ocused o eedig their
ow childre ad keepig a roo over
their heads, cocer about childre i
other parts o the world or about aimal
welare drops dow the list o priorities.
However, the authors do ot dismiss the
ethical cosumer outright. The are o
the opiio that post-recessio, this tred
will recover, albeit slowl. As cosumer
codece returs, people will rst
atted to buig the thigs the had goe
without ol the will the retur to pre-
recessio levels o altruistic spedig.
CONSUMERS IN THE
EMERGING MARKETS IN THE
2000S
Just as markets such as Brazil, Russia,
Chia ad Idia were emergig ad thecosumers gettig exposed to wester
ifueces, the recessio hit the global
ecoom. However, cosumers i
these emergig markets, ulike their
wester couterparts seemed kee to
put the recessioar treds behid ad
cotiue with the cosumptio culture
that the growig ecoom eabled.
Such cosumptio patters would also
ted to be ostetatious as a culture o
cospicuous cosumptio is more commo
i such markets. youg proessioal
wome emulate the Sex ad the Cit wa
o lie, ad the purchase o, or example,
a Louis Vuitto bag (ad beig see with
oe) becomes the topic o coversatio i
social gatherigs. The meas ad abilit to
emulate a wester liestle i a otherwisetraditioal settig is the wa orward or
this sectio o cosumers.
I Idia or example, the geeral
perceptio is that the middle class
comprises the oug, codet ad
ambitious class that ears ad speds
o braded products, gadgets ad other
orms o cospicuous cosumptio. The
have bee reerred to b several ames
the Great Idia Middle Class, the neo
Middle Class (nMC), the elite middle
class, the Spedarati ad eve the I ca
ad so I will speders.
This trasitio i attitude has also bee
triggered b the revolutio i mass
media cable ad satellite televisio,
broadbad coectios ad icreasig
Iteret usage, all o which has brought
the latest iormatio o products ad
services to a larger populatio. Easier
access to iormatio has also ehaced
buig desire. The risig credit culture
ad cheap ace optios have made
ullmet o these desires eas.
Idia jouralist ad commetator Alam
Sriivas, however, gives a ver isightul
commetar12 whilst capturig the attitude
o this middle class ad questios whether
or ot there is a elemet o hpe aroud
the middle class ad their potetial as
cosumers o moder Idia retailig.
The commo perceptio is that the
neo Middle class sped like there is o
tomorrow ad live or the preset i thatsese their attitude is ar closer to the rest
o the wester world. Coupled with this
AGE 52 OXIRM RESEARCH THEMES
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attitude towards lie is a certai amout
o prudece whe it comes to spedig
habits. Their spedig is ot based o
idetiig categories that are splurge-
worth, but based more o how it ts i
with their liestle, adds value to their
livig experieces ad eriches their lives
i some orm or aother. Whe it comes
to spedig, it is related directl to their
liestle. Whilst the liestle ad socio-
ecoomic status o nMCs has chaged,
the iheret values ad overall culture ma
ot have udergoe a dramatic chage.
Sriivas cites a example rom a stud o
Idia sotware proessioals or whom
carig or the older geeratio ad the
importace o maitaiig their culture
ad values through the medium o amil
cotiues to be a priorit.
So how would these cosumers emerge
rom the recessio? Flatters ad Willmott
commet that i wester markets, the
cohort o cosumers emergig rom therecessio will, like their great gradparets
who lived through the Great Depressio,
carr o attitudes ad behaviours the
lear ow throughout their lives. Some
cosumers would retur to boom time
cosumptio patters i the comig
decades, but millios o cosumers uder
the age o 35 will cotiue to remai
simplicit seekig ad thrit, et hold
compaies to high stadards.
The tred i the emergig markets post-
recessio ma be i sharp cotrast.
This is ot to sa that the would ot
tighte their belts temporaril, but the
nielse Compa report suggests that
cosumers i the emergig markets will
retur to their previous spedig habits
ad liestle much sooer tha their
wester couterparts. The ratioale or
this is i the risig cosumer codece
idex that idicated that durig Jue
2009, there was a 13 poit rise i the
cosumer codece idex i Idia ad
a 8 poit rise i Russia ad Brazil.
IN SUMMARY
Cosumer midsets i developed ad
developig ecoomies seem to be two
eds o the spectrum. More specicall,
cosumers i the latter ecoomies
are similar to the 1960s ad 1970s
cosumers o the wester world.
However, the have the advatage o a
moder hi-tech world where real time
iormatio exchage takes place. But
the attitude ad aspiratios o these
cosumers are those o the ewl
oud codece ad pride emaatig
rom the ecoomic progress o their
respective coutries ad this is refected
i the ature o the cosumerism that
is developig i these coutries. The
cosumers i wester ecoomies o
the other had are goig back to basics.
That is ot to sa that cosumerism is
ast disappearig but the excitemet ad
ethusiasm or big ames ad brads
is ot the most popular mechaism or
makig a liestle statemet. I act,
makig a liestle statemet is ot the
top priorit or these cosumers amore.Oe could thereore sa the wheel o
retailig has tured a ull circle.
Russian and Chinese Consumers are Utilising Spare Cash
to Keep Up with the Latest Fashion rendsop 10 countries who spend spare cash on purchasing new clothes
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0
RU CN UA PH BR PL DE FR AR IN
Source: Nielsen Global Online Consumer Surve y, June 2009; 14,029 respondents in Europe, Asia Pacifc, Middle East and North America
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