James Russo, Vice President, Global Consumer Insights, discussed the latest Nielsen consumer research, touching on everything from Blu-Ray players to home canning, during a discussion of the changing American consumer on a recent segment on CNBC.

Recently, at Nielsen’s Consumer 360 Conference, The Nielsen Company featured a unique exhibit, Consumed: The Economy Hits Home, which looks at how today’s uncertain economy is shaping consumer attitudes and behaviors and how marketers can navigate this new landscape to uncover growth opportunities. Mark Leiter, President, Professional Services, provides a guided video tour.

Read the corresponding presentation: Consumer or Consumed.
More video and presentations available at Consumer360.com.

First signs of how consumers will behave post recession.
Restraint will be the new mantra among consumers, according to the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Survey. But, that doesn’t mean they won’t start spending again in the near future.
Respondents to the poll conducted in April, across 50 countries making up 86 percent of the GDP, said they would continue to focus on fiscal responsibility. Yet, “they will allow themselves some of those little indulgences,” said James Russo, vice president, Global Consumer Insights. “Perhaps pent up demand will play itself out and they’ll …

Collaboration is the theme vividly painted at The Nielsen Company’s Consumer 360 morning kick off – as attendees found themselves consumed in data illustrating a continuously changing consumer mindset, fed by an ongoing shift in consumer psychology. And the message was clear from the start: collaboration at the retail-vendor level will be key the successfully navigating this challenging, changing landscape.

The economic downturn has been a boon to dollar stores, which attracted increased consumer spending in 2008, including spending among high and middle income shoppers, according to The Nielsen Company. Nielsen’s analysis of consumer shopping habits shows consumers at all income levels shopping more at dollar stores, with high income shoppers spending 18 percent more at dollar stores in the second half of 2008 compared to the prior year. Dollar stores are outpacing major consumer packaged goods (CPG) channels among both low and high income shoppers. The …

Organic products – which are often priced at a premium over non-organic products – have taken a sales hit over the last 12 months as consumers have cut back discretionary spending, according to new analysis by Nielsen’s Director of Industry Insights, Tom Pirovano.  In March 2008, monthly sales of organic products grew 24 percent; a year later, growth almost came to a standstill of 1 percent, marking a dramatic shift from previous monthly growth rates of more than 30 percent seen in 2005 and 2006.
[click to enlarge graph]

“The recession and …

Every day, shoppers walk into a store to find that the price of a favorite item has gone up.  These price increases drove dollar growth for retail sales within food, drug and mass merchandisers to 3.6 percent in the 52-week period ending 1/24/2009, although sales slowed in the last quarter.  Much of that growth, however, was driven by inflationary pricing as both retailers and manufacturers raised prices due to rapidly escalating commodity costs.  Every department – except general merchandise – showed dollar …

The early predictions were gloomy: the recession gripping the U.S. would make for a dismal holiday shopping season for retailers.  And while many retailers certainly felt the effects of the economic downturn, holiday dollar sales in 2008 actually increased 5.8 percent or $99.5 billion across grocery and drug stores, mass merchandisers and convenience stores, according to Nielsen.
Categories that drove the highest sales spikes were musical instruments and accessories, with more than half of the purchases for the year made in the last eight weeks of 2008.  Women’s and children’s fragrances, baking …

Nielsen today unveiled the Economic Current, a monthly study that will track key consumer and retailing trends on a global, regional and country-wide basis. Using the vast amount of consumer data collected by Nielsen, the Economic Current will serve as a centralized source of information on key consumer topics such as:
• Market Index volume, in terms of unit and country currency change
• Retail channel shifting
• Shopping frequency and spending trends
• Overall consumer confidence
“Nielsen collects and analyzes data on tens of thousands of products around the world. As we were thinking of new …

It’s no secret that consumers nationwide have been forced to alter their behavior and spending patterns due to the weak economy in 2008. But, specifically, just how are they coping?
Based on its extensive research in the Consumer Packaged Goods and Entertainment categories, The Nielsen Company has some answers.
The New Mantra: If You Can’t Eat It… You Don’t Need It

Consumers are relying more and more on food staples and “value” items such as rice, noodles, and pasta, which dominated Nielsen’s list of the fastest-growing categories in 2008.
Dollar sales vs. a year …