The Center for Media Research released the following study today about the recession’s lasting effects on shoppers. Take a look at the four segments they have identified  in more detail:

Steadfast Frugalists

• 6 in 10 are women.
• Composed of people from all age groups; however, fewer from Gen X and Gen YThe most disciplined in their behaviors and seriously committed to self-restraint Many of these individuals deemed themselves tightwads even before the recession
• 29% of individuals in this group considered themselves tightwads in this survey

Involuntary Penny-Pinchers

• 6 in 10 are women.
• Over-represented by people in their 30s and 40s.
• Involuntary Penny-Pinchers are the most severely affected, financially and emotionally, by the recession.
• Their new-found frugality for the most part has been forced upon them. Half have not saved any money for emergencies
• 38% in this group exceeded their income last year, indicating that they were not that disciplined to begin with
• Marketers will find this group to be quite challenging to influence mainly due to their lower/diminished capacity to spend.

Pragmatic Spenders

• 6 in 10 are men
• Over-represented by people in their 60s, and from the Northeast and West
• Over a third of the people with greater than $75,000 HHI are in this group
• Pragmatic Spenders have the greatest capacity, both financial and psychological, to willfully resurrect their past spending patterns
• Their approach to spending is tempered with caution; they have cut back and are engaging in thrift like others but seem less troubled by the recession.
• Pragmatic Spenders will be the most attractive to marketers given their above-average financial wherewithal

Apathetic Materialists

• 22% in the population.
• Slightly more men than women.
• Over-represented by people in their 20s (Gen Y)
• The least changed in terms of their spending habits and future intentions
• More younger, single people with limited disposable income at the moment
• Apathetic Materialists will be an attractive target for youth-oriented marketers

For the full study visit the following site: http://decitica.com/