BALTIMORE, MD--(Marketwire - January 27, 2010) - Context-Based Research Group, an ethnographic
firm with a global network of consumer anthropologists, and Carton Donofrio
Partners, an advertising agency in Baltimore, today unveiled key findings
from their new research report, "Coming of Age in the Great Recession."
The study, which is a follow up to the firms' 2008 "Grounding the American
Dream" work, validates the findings and predictions from the original
research using a quantitative approach, and provides updated and more
detailed insight into post-recession consumer attitudes and behaviors.
"One of the most interesting findings is that 78 percent agreed the
American Dream has died, however, based on responses, we see that a new
dream -- focused on freedom and ideals rather than material possessions --
is being born," said Dr. Robbie Blinkoff, principal anthropologist and
co-founder of Context-Based Research Group. "In our studies, we found
people reaching this epiphany and then going through a 'coming of age'
process that's leading to new attitudes and new ways of interacting with
the world."
What will this mean for our culture and for consumerism?
The initial study identified a five stage process consumers were
undergoing:
Stage 1. Goodbye Homo economicus "I no longer want to be defined by what I
buy."
Stage 2. My Life is Not a Loan "I cut back my credit and started to save."
Stage 3. From a Me to a We Economy "Transacting life is not as valuable as
building relationships."
Stage 4. unSTUFFing Our Lives "I'm getting rid of value-less things and
surrounding myself with people and things that matter."
Stage 5. The Grounded Consumer "Now I'm more strategic and smarter --
connecting my emotional, rational and social senses to how I live
and consume."
The new study tested these stages. The level of agreement with each was
high:
-- 78% agreed the American Dream has died -- people now see how the dream
had become defined in terms of material possessions rather than freedom and
ideals
-- 88% took steps to spend less
-- 83% made permanent changes in spending and saving behavior
-- 51% planned to give time and/or volunteer as a gift this past holiday
season
-- 83% planned to spend more time with family and friends over the holidays
than they had previously
-- 61% de-cluttered their home and/or consigned items
"We believe the changes in behavior represent a permanent shift because
they come from a deep evaluation of personal beliefs," said Dr. Cleve
Corlett, director of quantitative research at Context-Based Research Group.
"Our studies portray a society moving into an era where we measure the
quality of our lives in social terms before economic ones. Forty-three
percent of Americans believe the recession has positively affected their
lives. With this kind of positive reinforcement, we now see the potential
to maintain a healthy balance between our consumer and non-consumer sense
of selves."
Along with the detailed findings, the team uncovered four distinct consumer
segments characterizing the post-recession mindset.
1. Rational: Understanding true value and how things fit
into your life (26%)
2. Relational: Putting social relationships over transactions (23%)
3. Balanced: Spending with thought and care, but with some fun too. (26%)
4. Joyful: Experiencing true joy often from non-consumer spaces (25%)
The report provides in-depth profiles of each of these segments, insight
into how particular types of people (young families vs. older, etc.) are
impacted, and perspective on marketing messages that could resonate with
each group.
Methodology
The sample for this survey, which was administered by Western Wats, was
balanced to ensure representativeness of the U.S. population in terms of
gender, income, race, age and region. Survey panelists, recruited through
telephone interviewing, online advertisements and through word of mouth,
were culled for activity and quality. The omnibus was executed by sending
invitations to a census representative population of 1,000. Once the data
was gathered, key demographic points were weighted to represent the census
numbers. The new study included 1,000 U.S. adults nationwide (age 18+) and
was fielded on October 7-11, 2009
Context-Based Research Group is an ethnographic research and consulting
firm that has provided companies with an anthropological perspective since
1999. Context's global network of cultural anthropologists observes and
interprets human behavior to uncover the reasons why people do what they
do. The end result brings clients closer to the actual experience of their
customers and leads to development of better products and services. For
more information, go to:
www.contextresearch.com.
Carton Donofrio Partners, Inc.
Carton Donofrio Partners is an award-winning advertising agency in
Baltimore. With a vision to change advertising by making it welcome and
invited into customers' lives, they help their clients become more
meaningful to their customers. To do this effectively, they tap their
proprietary global network of anthropologists who study customer
motivations and needs to uncover more relevant insight to inform their
creative, media, digital, and integrated ideas. The agency is a member of
Worldwide Partners which enables them to work seamlessly with 91
independent agencies in 51 countries around the world. For more
information, visit
www.cartondonofrio.com or call 410.576.9000.