The Economy changes spending habits

As a continuation of the Trend post below I just finished reading an article in the Chicago Tribune from last month ( http://tiny.cc/pXFdY ). It picks up with adding unmanageable debt as an effect of the current economy, which with the other effects lead to:

• Spending more practically
• Buying smaller homes (if you can sell your larger one)
• Eat out less
• Save for large purchases rather than use credit

The author correctly reasons that this is a moral shift that is making people reconsider how their lives really change when they are spending more.

Combined a new grounded consumer begins to emerge that is/will:

• limit "stuff" they own
• live more within their means
• think that life is not defined by how much credit they have or what they buy
• reconsider what was once considered a necessity to be more of a luxury now.

While thinking about the effects of Trends I find myself thinking about what will happen next as an effect or cause?

Economic Mega Trend Effects

I know this sounds like a boring topic, but bare with me I think it will turn out interesting. A few of us at work are researching and following some selected mega trends in an attempt to better understand product development plans. The Economy is not one of those being followed, but it hit me like a stack of bricks today in a meeting. See if this makes sense and tell me what you think.

Down swing of the economy leads to:

• the devaluation of assets and an increase in the unemployment rate, which lead to:
• Bad personal credit, which leads to:
• Failed credit checks for cell phone plans, forcing the carriers to:
• create new plans around Pre-pay and metered usage
• Carriers also have just reduced the price for unlimited plans below a pain threshold convincing people to drop their land lines to save more money.

I am wondering how the following two events will change these outcomes from the mega-trend.

• Another major power outage
• The launch of satellites designed to provide cellular communications

I think that a major power outage may remind people that still wan to have the land line, which would send them back to these companies to start the service back up. However, this time they will be asking for a "just in case" package.

The launch of the satellites, if they can get them to work , could change the arguments around who has the better coverage.

Let me know what you are thinking and sign up to a follower on the left side of this blog.