According to an exclusive consumer survey conducted for STORES by BIGinsight, the budget tightening that consumers have endured for four years isn't showing signs of stopping, writes Sandy Smith. Despite positive holiday sales figures, it appears that many of the changes that consumers have made in spending habits are becoming hardened. Phil Rist, executive vice president, BIGinsight, says "... events that have transpired over the past four years have forever changed consumers... evidenced in what they deem expendable and untouchable purchases... the retail landscape will likely never be the same... "

The explosion of social networking has opened up a massive opportunity for advertisers to open a dialogue with their audiences, says the report, particularly via video campaigns that make brand ambassadors of opinion leaders in social spaces. Social video advertising has grown rapidly, more than doubling in size every year since 2009, and direct engagement metrics are strong. Unruly has delivered over 1.34 billion social video views, with an average 1.95% of viewers clicking through for more information, and 0.94% sharing the video.

According to the February 2012 survey, conducted by BIGinsight, the average US consumer celebrating Valentine's Day this year will spend $126.03 on traditional merchandise, up 8.5% from last year, and marking the highest average in the NRF Valentine's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey's 10-year history. Total spending for the day is expected to reach $17.6 billion, up 12% from $15.7 billion last year.

According to a recent Mintel foodservice study, 80% of family restaurant-goers who are eating out less in general are doing so because of budgetary reasons. Due to this and other challenges, family restaurant sales are expected to decline by 7% over the next four years, says the report. The family midscale segment has been the most negatively impacted, says the report, and the next few years aren't expected to show an upward swing.

According to the 2012 NCH Coupon Facts for the U.S. CPG coupon industry, $470 billion of coupon value was offered by consumer package goods (CPG) marketers to U.S. consumers last year, a 26% increase over the pre-recession period of 2007. Value-conscious shoppers responded by redeeming $4.6 billion in savings, an increase of 12.2% over the year prior, and 58.6% higher than five years ago. During 2011, 3.5 billion coupons were redeemed, up 6.1% from 2010, and 34.6% since 2007.

According to a new Accenture/comScore/dunnhumbyUSA research study, highlighting the potential for brand websites to become key drivers in building customer loyalty and preference for CPG brands, visitors to CPG brand websites spend 37% more than non-visitors on the brand in retail stores. And, brand website visitors are heavier buyers within a brand's product category, spending 53% more than non-visitors on the category in retail stores.

According to new data from PQ Media, total U.S. mobile & social media revenue, including consumer and business access, content, advertising and marketing, increased 30.2% to $45.38 billion in 2011. Mobile & social media revenue rose at a compound annual growth rate of 28.7% from 2006-2011, and is expected to grow at an accelerating 30.8% annual rate in 2012.

New research from GfK MRI's iPanel, composed exclusively of Tablet and eReader owners, reveals that male Tablet owners are particularly interested in reading digital magazines and that Tablets are generating readership of back issues of publications.

A new survey from Cint shows that 62% of those surveyed said they were more likely to purchase a brand's product if their opinion has been sought by brand in a study. The survey highlights the importance of customer insight, says the report, as over half of the 1,200 consumers polled felt more loyal to a brand if it takes the time to find out their opinion.

According to the findings of the recent PointRoll Video Benchmark Study, 78% of viewers completed 100% of interactive in-stream ads, compared to 69% who completed 100% in-stream ads without interactive elements. Additionally, interaction rates for in-stream video ads were more than three times higher than that of in-banner video ads, where users specifically took an action within the ad.