The New Consumer Psychology

For the roughly 25 years from the mid-'80s through at least 2004, American consumers focused on conspicuous consumption. But, more recently we've seen a big shift in what consumers want to buy and how they view those purchases. It's not just a knee-jerk reaction to "bad times." The stresses of the Great Recession have merely served as a catalyst for reexamining priorities and returning to values and habits that have long defined America's culture. So, even as the economy recovers, we won't see a return to the priorities of the past few decades. What will this mean for .....