"When you assume, you make an ass our of u and me" - or something like that.
Anyway, I was reading a article about home economics and consumer spending. The author referenced a study that showed how sales of LCD TV's had dropped off significantly at Best Buy, yet how sales of the same product type had increased at Wal-Mart during the same time period.
The author subsequently assumed that this phenomena was due to consumers cutting back spending. The point was that most consumers are missing the big picture when it comes to personal economics. They feel that somehow they are being financially responsible by shopping at Wal-Mart for a product that represented irresponsible spending regardless of where it was purchased from. The author went on to elaborate how people psychologically justify purchases, etc.
The reason I am bringing this up is because I find it interesting that they spend a lot of effort to perform this study, yet it seems like 30 seconds was spent on interpreting the results. Why would they blindly assume that the study (decreased sales at Best Buy and increased sales at Wal-Mart) meant that the average consumer was trying to be more frugal than they used to be? They are saying that the same people who would normally purchase a TV at Best Buy is now choosing to purchase at Wal-Mart.
I offer a different interpretation of the results of that study. Perhaps the frugal (cheap) people like myself, were just waiting for prices on LCD TV's to drop, or at least stabilize at a low point, before purchasing. This group of frugal consumers were going to purchase their LCD TV's at Wal-Mart regardless. It just so happens that prices on LCD TV's have come down to a point where the frugal shoppers have determined that this is a good time to purchase a TV. Perhaps Best Buy's sales have dropped because their average customer is not fiscally responsible and most of them are now in over their heads - and those consumers are no longer purchasing LCD TV's anywhere. Not at Best Buy. Not at Wal-Mart. They will continue to consume their giant lcd or plasma TV that was purchased 7 months, or 5 years, ago until they get their next stimulus "rebate" check in the mail - at which time Best Buy will be happy to cash it for them.
