Eating healthy is a goal for most people, but is often difficult to achieve. Work and family responsibilities make time scarce, and the recent recession prompted many to search for value over healthier choices.

While improving economies may prompt consumers to return to restaurants or take a vacation, one trend that looks likely to remain—and perhaps even grow—is the shift to private label goods.

Following the positive trends exhibited in the first quarter of 2010, Europe’s second quarter was a disappointment according to the latest Nielsen European Growth Reporter.

The use of over-the-counter medications is rising around the world, but the economic downturn is impacting usage. Manufacturers need to encourage responsible proactive usage and reinforce their brand equity to negate the threat of store brands and generics.

Each year a trillion dollars is spent on communicating to and persuading the human brain, yet few understand how the brain really works—what’s attractive to it, how it decides what it likes and doesn’t like, and how it chooses to buy or not buy…

Lower prices for food and other household items are great for consumers, but for retailers, they don’t always achieve the desired rise in sales as the competition is quick to follow.

With economic concerns still top of mind, Chinese consumers opt for ‘quality of life’ and ‘ease of transport’ when purchasing a new car, but still want a stylish and sporty design. Now is the time to increase incentives on alternative energy vehicles—consumers are ready for the switch.

New media. Old media. Consumer demographics. Consumer interests. An innovative media targeting model fuses the best of all worlds into a single, cross-platform view that controls for the most important variables influencing purchase.

Continued unemployment means more sensitivity to price and promotion. As marketers plan for the future, understanding the nuances of price sensitivity and the consumer’s shifting value paradigm will be critical to success.

The first quarter of 2010 shows a positive trend in nominal value growth rates in most countries, which was driven primarily through volume growth improvement… However, the economic turmoil reached Eastern Europe with a 12-month lag.