Consumer psychology: From buy, buy to bye-bye

The recession will have a lasting impact on the way people shopWANT IT! screamed the words plastered on the walls, counters and shopping bags in the flagship emporium of Saks, a big American retailer, on Fifth Avenue in New York. The same exhortation was emblazoned in huge letters on a giant red and white ball that revolved slowly in the middle of the main sales floor. Sakss spring marketing campaign, which came to an end on April 1st, made its brazen appeal to greed in a bid to drum up sales in a dire market. But the exclamation mark in its Want It! tagline should perhaps have been a question mark instead.Asked whether they want more stuff, consumers in rich countries have responded with an emphatic No. The breathtaking speed with which retail sales have plummeted in both America and Europe (see chart) has caught retailers and manufacturers by surprise. In response, companies have tried desperately to prop up revenues using a variety of promotions, advertising and other marketing ploys, often to no avail. ...