CNN.com ran a recent article about cheap chic and how people are adjusting their spending habits and focus. What’s interesting is that this is the *same* topic that Chris Abraham and I had talked about last week in a podcast.
Selected comments from the article below:
People have long used the way they shop and what they buy as a way to communicate with other people about their values, their tastes and their interests,” said Kit Yarrow, a consumer psychologist and professor at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California.
“A year ago, what was considered the ultimate status symbol would have been the chicest bag or the most luxurious outfit,” Yarrow added. “Now what’s chic is being the most knowledgeable and efficient at saving money.”
Yarrow said that despite the tough economic times, there are many Americans who still have disposable income. Those people are choosing not to spend, she said, or making more thoughtful purchases.
“What I am saying is that we have moved from an era of conspicuous consumption to an era of considered consumption,” Yarrow said. “People at one time wanted to showcase all of the things they are buying and now they are stopping and really thinking about it.”
Brett Wright, co-founder and chief creative officer of Uptown Magazine, is also seeing evidence of that attitude shift. iReport.com: What adjustments are you making to your budget? His publication is targeted at what he terms the “triple A’s” — affluent African-Americans and those who want to be. Wright said he is seeing consumption of big ticket items being put on hold or done more discreetly.
“Buying the new red Ferrari is certainly not in favor,” Wright said. “Everybody is trying to do things sort of under the radar screen. No one is looking to be as ostentatious as they may have been in the past.”
Podcast # 1
The same topics were covered in this podcast!!
However there is more conversation in this latest segment of the conversation between Chris Abraham & I about this topic and the balloon, bubbles and references to Reagan economics and more!!
Check out Part 2 of this podcast (and there are more parts coming so bear with the length. This one is about 20 + minutes)
Stevie Wilson
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