From the Publisher:
How we, consumers, responded to the 2008 recession and continue to respond to its aftermath is the crux of much speculation. Will we remain "frugal" or will we go back to our spending ways? What about this economic crisis has changed the way we live and how will it affect America's future?

After decades of unfettered indulgence, Americans are spent. We over-consumed--financed with debt--which has overleveraged our country and erased 13 trillion of consumer wealth and nearly 45% in America's equities and housing values. In the process, we have decimated trust in our financial system, government, and business. In SPEND SHIFT, John Gerzema, Chief Insights Officer at Young & Rubicam, argues that today people are disentangling themselves from the risk, tension and liability created by excess in everyday life. To adjust to their new lifestyle, consumers are editing "want" from "need" and also unwinding from the social attitudes and pressures of consumption-led status: workaholic tendencies, unhealthy stress, shallow relationships, and so on. Americans are peeling back the layers of excess and facade to reveal the foundational truths about what makes them truly happy. And we are not going back to our old ways.

Drawing on interviews with experts in the fields of business, economics, culture, and consumer psychology and grounded in rigorous and extensive proprietary consumer data from the BrandAsset(R) Valuator, SPEND SHIFT describes this reappraisal of consumerism in our society and explains how, deprived of the things we thought we wanted, we are finding the things we need; how we are moving from mindless to mindful consumption; and how we are opting for better goods and services, rather than just "more." As a consequence, companies are presented with an extraordinary opportunity to revolutionize their models to reconnect with the new, unwound consumer. Businesses that adapt to these new consumer behaviors will drive business that scale reputation, not debt, and that will expand profit margins by delivering both "value" and "values."

Through insight, social data, and in depth observation, SPEND SHIFT analyzes the changing American consumer psyche, documents the five shifting values and consumer behaviors that are remaking America, and explains what it means to businesses and leaders. This will be a must-read for anyone interested in how consumerism is changing and how to understand and connect with consumer during and after the recession.

Tagged: Business, Economics, Finance