• by Masha Geller , February 12, 2002

If your client roster includes travel providers, breakfast cereal companies, savings banks, cosmetics and clothes manufacturers or chicken farmers, this may be of interest to you.

According to just released findings from the monthly Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey by BIGresearch, signs of an economic rebound are starting to filter through the clouds of recession, but the emerging portrait of the consumer landscape may be a lot different than in the past.

“People are still buying but they are buying differently,” said Joe Pilotta, VP of Research for BIGresearch. “Vacation travel has been trending up as a purchase intention over the past several months. This may signal the return of the family vacation as a way of spending more time with family. Also, consumers need to be enticed and the price value equation is definitely key in today's market, this will have a big impact on the bottom lines of companies or products that are positioned for a market which may no longer exist.”

According to the survey findings, the new consumers are more practical and purposeful in what they buy. More than 44% say they have become more practical and realistic in their purchases; 37.6% say they will increase their savings and 35.6% will decrease their overall spending over the next 3 months.

The new consumer is also less brand-sensitive. BIGresearch reports that 93.1% of survey respondents say their feelings towards fashion are a preference for conservative traditional look or fashions that provide value and comfort. Additionally, 68.1% say familiar labels aren't important when buying clothes, which is apparent in the top 3 choices for where people buy their cosmetics, which are Wal-Mart, Walgreen's and CVS rather than traditional department stores.

The new consumer may be a short-term phenomenon or a transition to a new Demand Chain market where consumer's new tastes and preferences will dictate, researchers say. This phenomenon can also be seen in peoples eating habits, where 27.3% say they will eat out less often and 46.1% say they regularly or occasionally eat breakfast cereal for lunch and 44.2% for dinner. In addition, over 76% say they eat chicken 2 or more times a week.