It’s cool to be frugal
With the recession in full swing and families worrying about jobs, mortgages, grocery bills, and more, the obvious result is that people are adjusting their spending habits. A report mentioned in AdWeek discusses that it’s now a bit more hip to be cutting coupons.
Parents and families are shifting to a new value system where keeping up with the Joneses is out and teaching the kids about responsible spending is in. Also in, according to a recent report from Starcom and Nickelodeon: putting brands’ feet to the fire and demanding they prove their worth to consumers who increasingly buy generic products in a hunt for deals.
Those are some of the key findings in a joint research effort that explored how the recession has affected family dynamics, relationships to brands and spending patterns.
“Frugality is cool, or the new black if you will,” said Ron Geraci, svp, research at Viacom-owned Nickelodeon. Parents, he said, indicated that they had become “stressed out” by the pressure of having to keep up with “neighbors and friends in the acquisition of cars, trips and homes.” The recession, he added, has provided relief from that burden.
According to the survey, 72 percent of those polled said they agreed with the statement, “It’s no longer important to keep up with the Joneses,” while 48 percent said that as a result of cutbacks in the family budget “we have redefined what’s truly meaningful in our lives.”
I'm Chad Boeninger and I write this blog for the students and faculty of Ohio University. I cover business research issues, databases and other resources, current business trends and topics, and much more.