Comments on: Consumers in a downturn: a new consumer habit

By: Ohne Rezept

Ohne Rezept — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:55:10 +0000

Waybe one day in German! Great post

By: Samuel

Samuel — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:49:14 +0000

It seems to me Americans are generally consumption-happy. We returned to decades of consumerism after the pits of the 1930s. Maybe its something in our exuberance. Perhaps its our nation of immigrants — competitiveness mixed with the relative ability to buy social standing.

Japan I would say, considering their history and conditions within the modern era — poor, overcrowded — has a character that sways towards quiet depression with miserliness as an art-form, an essential national trait.

Case in point: there’s an exhibit right now at DC’s Freer Gallery about the ancient forms of pottery mending in Japan. The repair of pottery — where the repairs are not hidden but celebrated — has its own set of names: kintsugi, yobitsugi and tomonaoshi. With, as in gift wrapping and flower arranging, it’s own set of masters through the ages. All rooted in cultural-defining ideas about religion and the spirits within all objects.

So, my theory supposes, the Japanese lost to America (and it’s always framed that way by Japanese, they lost the war), they chose to adopt our consumerism. But when that failed miserably they returned to a more elemental self. A truth about their natural character.

Anyway, that would seem to point o study on this issue.

By: Without Prescription

Without Prescription — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:24:32 +0000

Who is Steve Portigal????

By: SusanA

SusanA — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:51:34 +0000

I saw an exception positioning this week. Spyder, a three-wheeled roadster. Tag: "Of all the things you don't need, this is the one you need the most". See the story on MediaPost here: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=102443

By: John McCreery

John McCreery — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:08:06 +0000

Apologies to Portigal. It was, indeed, Christopher whose remark I found so irritating. That said, there are moments, not often but some, when SHOUTING IS JUSTIFIED.

By: srp

srp — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:05:22 +0000

John McCreery:

Regardless of the substance, your critique is off-target because Steve Portigal never mentioned Japan at all. Perhaps you meant Cristopher? Always a good idea to fix the target before unloading the ALL-CAPS epithets.

By: John McCreery

John McCreery — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:04:48 +0000

Whoops. “Natural [sic] character” should be “national character.”

P.S. If you haven’t seen it already, check out this year’s Cyber Division Grand Prix at the Cannes Advertising Festival: http://www.uniqlo.jp/uniqlock/

By: John McCreery

John McCreery — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:00:24 +0000

Re what Steve Portigal says: Sorry, but there’s no way to do this politely–ABSOLUTE CRAP! And I say this as someone who is an anthropologist (Ph.D. Cornell 1973), has lived in Japan for almost three decades, and has authored a book on Japanese Consumer Behavior. Before making sweeping assertions about national character based on a minor art form seen in a U.S. museum, you might want to consider some relevant material circumstances: (1) a rapidly aging population, 1/5th of which is already 65+; (2) the retirement of the Japanese baby boomers, a much narrower age cohort than in the U.S. (1947-1949 vs. 1946-1964), whose “new families” spurred domestic demand for houses, cars, and durable goods at the same time that Japan was making inroads in global markets in the 1970s and 1980s; (3) the 1991 collapse of the Bubble Economy, followed by corporate restructuring that flattened middle and working class incomes and pushed too many young Japanese into temp staff positions from which they are now being fired in droves. There may also be something to say about kids whose lives have been both rigidly structured and materially affluent, who seem to lack the drive of their grandfathers, who had lost a real war and were determined to win the economic one, a goal that was pretty much achieved before 30-somethings were born. Lots to say here but evocations of natural character based on art and traced to losing WWII–got to say it again–ABSOLUTE CRAP!

By: Michael Powell

Michael Powell — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:37:18 +0000

It is amazing to see how these cultural drivers are still letting people consume/buy things that, at least for a moment, move people away from their obsession with the economy. But to your point about cultural drivers that could freeze up consumption, I think there is a driver out there, particularly in pop culture, that might loosely be based on the “survivor” and feed into some culturally-mediated “survival instinct.” My sense is that people want to see themselves as someone who has been through struggles and can survive it. And consumer deprivation could be one way that people are accomplishing this kind of transformation today, to the detriment of consumerism, of course. More and more people are trying to save up money, just in case they do lose their job or maybe even because their 401k has decreased, as opposed to a serious inflation problem, actual unemployment or defaulting on a mortgage. In many ways, it’s like surviving a bad storm in the basement of your house: your roof may not leak and you might not have any property damage, but you still feel like you “survived” because you had your canned foods and flashlight ready, just in case.

In any case, it’s certainly an interesting time in history to observe consumer behaviors. Thanks for this post.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:19:03 +0000

The anthropological question is, I suppose, what are we truly — are we consumption-happy as a people? Or consumption-phobic? This will, I think, determine what we ‘return’ to once balance is achieved. It seems Americans are generally consumption-happy. We returned to decades of consumerism after the pits of the 1930s. Maybe its something in our exuberance. Perhaps its our nation of immigrants competitiveness mixed with the relative ability to buy social standing.

Japan I would say considering their history and conditions within the modern era has a character that sways towards quiet depression and miserliness as an art-form, an essential national trait. (There’s an exhibit right now at DC’s Freer Gallery about the ancient forms of pottery mending in Japan. The repair of pottery has its own name: kintsugi. With, as in gift wrapping and flower arranging, it’s own set of masters through the ages.)

Anyway, that would seem to point o study on this issue.