What's changed about our money-habits

'This is the new paradigm that manufacturers and retailers are going to have to accept and deal with: that we’re learning to stretch our dollars, and while we have no problem with them making a profit, we aren’t about to pay 10 times more for their goods than they are worth. As our budgets shrink, their profit margins have to as well, and not just in the short term. The days of inelastic demand are over. We’re no longer willing to pay whatever it takes to get what we want. If businesses want our business, their first task is to address consumer demand for higher quality. And our task, as consumers seeking to avoid another recession, is to hold out until they meet our demands by holding fast to our dollars, spending them only when profit margins don’t exceed the value we get for our bucks.

Vote with your dollars in favor of products and services that are worth their asking price while you have the power, folks. Corporations will get it, or they’ll go out of business and make room for those which do. Just ask
Wal-Mart.'

- Katherine Berry, 'On Saks and Starbucks: Demanding Value in Tough Economic Times'.

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