Smith Business Close-Up

Consumer spending habits

Broadcast Dates:
Thursday, May 14, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 17, 2009, 7:30 a.m.
Monday, May 18, 2009, 4:30 a.m.

Economic woes have 73 percent of consumers cutting back on household expenditures, according to the Consumer Technology Pulse recently released by the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and research firm Rockbridge Associates Inc.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, P.K. Kannan, associate professor of marketing and director for the Center of Excellence in Service, talks about the survey findings, which show that consumers are postponing purchases of big ticket items more than they are cutting back on or discontinuing services. Of those surveyed, 78 percent personally know someone who has lost a job in the last year, and 27 percent are convinced the economy is in a depression.

The Consumer Technology Pulse survey is a snapshot of consumer sentiment sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and technology research firm Rockbridge Associates Inc. The survey consists of 500 adults (18 years or older) surveyed online. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Results are weighted to match the demographic characteristics of the U.S. population. A full report of results can be found online.