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Will Consumer Culture Survive?
Last week's "Conversation Starter" blog on harvardbusiness.org featured an entry by anthropologist Grant McCracken, who posited that "when income, credit and confidence return, Americans" will return to their free-spending ways.
McCracken wrote "Why American Consumers Will Spend Lavishly Again" in response to comments made by individuals such as PIMCO CEO Mohamed El-Erian and Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke, who say that there is a "new normal" in consumption and that people "are saving more, consuming less, and being more frugal and thoughtful in their purchases." An assertion that is based on a flawed understanding of the motives behind consumption, says McCracken.
To illustrate, he describes the behaviour of "Susan Householder," a wife and mother residing in the middle-class suburb of Ridgefield, New York. Susan's buying habits, he explains, are based not on vanity or greed but on a very real desire to "build a life" -- for herself and her family. These are "deep, cultural motives" he argues. And, while, Susan may have scaled back in the past year or so, she will, when the opportunity presents itself, return to building the life she wants."
This argument does indeed get conversation started on the blog. And, the comments are as interesting as the entry. Keith Bossey writes that the country no longer has a financial structure that will support Susan's consumer behaviour. Ken Boucher comments that "we seem doomed to never reach the top of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. We are constantly just below the apex, trying to buy enough stuff to give us the esteem we seem to need." Grant McCracken too posts a comment, asserting that he believes "we are deeply committed to these patterns of consumption (and self-definition). Change here, if it happens, will be very slow indeed."
What's happening in your stores now? Are you seeing a "new normal" in consumer spending? Or, do you think Susan Householder is starting to suffer from "frugality fatigue" and will soon be opening her wallet just like old times?
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Lori Smith, , Editor-in-Chief
Lori Smith is the editor of Gifts and Tablewares, Canada's premiere gifts and tablewares magazine. Written for retailers of gifts, tablewares, housewares, stationery and home furnishing accessories, its objective is to help readers increase their sales and run their businesses more profitably by providing information on new products, merchandising, small business management, customer service, consumer behavior and industry news. The magazine is published six times a year by BIG Magazines, LP, a leading Canadian information company.
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on November 30, 2009 4:39 PM.
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