James Russo, Vice President, Marketing, Nielsen
With unemployment reaching 25-year highs, it is no surprise that Americans are nervous about their futures.  Over the last twelve months, confidence has nosedived as consumers worry about keeping their jobs, paying their mortgages and other bills, and their retirements.
We are on the verge of a potential fundamental shift in how consumers shop and buy that could have ramifications long past economic recovery.  They are shopping less and changing the types of products they purchase, such as shifting …

Unlike past recessions, few countries have been spared from the economic downturn.  Nielsen’s top industry thought leaders recently discussed how shopping patterns around the world have been affected by economic conditions, how consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers are adapting to the new marketplace realities and what lies ahead.
The participants were Todd Hale, Senior Vice President, Consumer & Shopper Insights, Nielsen U.S.; Jonathan Banks, Director, Retail Insights, Nielsen Europe; James Russo, Vice President of Marketing, Nielsen U.S., and; Jean-Jacques Vandenheede, Director, Retail Insights, Nielsen Europe.  Key themes were:
Consumers: It does …

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the U.S. government’s economic-stimulus payments are helping to boost consumer spending. 
A new study by two professors at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business found that a typical family spent 3.5% more on food, medicines, and other daily essentials when the rebates arrived.
The results also show that the rebates boosted consumption of nondurable goods, which excludes large purchases, by 4.1% during the second quarter of 2008.
The study, which used ACNielsen data on consumer purchases — …