Plastic Surgery During A Recession?

Though many are struggling during this difficult economic season there are some who are still going under the knife voluntarily, with no medical reason. This is only partially true an article in Time magazine explains that with the recession small ticket items at the plastic surgeon are becoming increasingly popular. Procedures like chemical peels, facials, and botox are high in demand while liposuction and augmentations are seeing a decline.

Another area that has seen a decline in this recession is people going to see there physicians. Over the Counter drugs have seen an incline in purchases due to the recession. Many Americans have resorted to self-medicating due to loss of jobs and cut backs on benefits. Vitamins and cleansing products like laxatives are doing extremely well.

With the rise in the interest to buy locally many small local breweries are seeing an increase in sales. Craft breweries sales are up by 11 percent while imported beers sales are down for the first time since 1991.

Mmmm... how comforting is a box of chocolates. Chocolate sales have also seen a rise since the decline in the economy. Chocolate is an easy way to indulge one's self without spending too much money. Hershey and Cadbury are the two companies doing the best.

Lottery sales have seen an increase with the decrease in the economy. With hope many believe they can get out of their unfortunate situations. Many argue that the lottery is an extra tax on the poor and shouldn't be encourage. I totally agree.

Exotic travel, like Africa and the Middle East, has seen an increase of 11 percent. Those who can afford to escape want to go somewhere far and remote. Traditional vacation locations like Europe and Asia have seen a decline of 3 percent. Probably because they look too much like America.

A Sad Valentine's

Retailers took a hurting this past Valentine's with sales projected to have dropped 14%. Small tickets items are the way that many lovers are showing their affection for this Valentine's according to an article in Times magazine. Author Sean Gregory states that most gifts will be candy and greeting cards, and 15% of consumers will be staying home for dinner. The usual gifts sent to close family members like siblings and mother's have been eliminated. Many jewelers were forced to sell things below cost. 1-800-FLOWERS sold a dozen roses for 24.99. Retailers like Bloomingdale's offered consumers gifts with purchase that could double as an extra Valentine's gift.

But On The Flip Side...

In Chapter 4 of our book we examine the positive results from allowing consumers to touch and examine merchandise before purchasing them. In the article "Picky, Picky: Consumers Tend to Reject 'Contaminated' Merchandise" the writer reviews a study done by Andrea Morales that explores the reality that consumers don't want to buy products that appear to have been touched by others. This is why we reach for the cereal box in the back of the stack.

This is a very true observation. For the experiment they had participants do a blind test where they went to the university bookstore where they would find an envelope with a task. The task for each participant was to find a specific shirt. When they asked the sales associate for the shirt the associate would inform them there was only one shirt left. The associate would then say the shirt is currently being tried on by another customer, tell the customer the shirt is on the return rack, or direct the customer to it on the rack. For the scenario where it was being tried on the person trying it on would return it to the associate and the associate would proceed to give the shirt to the participant to try on. The experiment proved that time and time again customers were not willing to make a purchase because they saw someone else touch their product.

To combat this issue Morales suggests several things for retailers to consider. One is that they merchandise their products so only a limited number of products are actually touched by browsers. Also cleaning clothing from dressing rooms as soon as possible and getting them on the floor. For returned merchandise they suggest putting on new tags to give the appearance that it has never been handle.

This study shows there is a big paradox for retailers to consider. They need to allow consumer to touch and browse the merchandise without there being any apparent contamination.