http://anxietyindex.com JWT's AnxietyIndex is designed as a place to discuss how brands and consumers are responding to the global recession. With daily content updates, AnxietyIndex.com includes contributions from around JWT's network, offering a truly global perspective. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:24:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Over the past 50 years, living standards, life expectancy and material wealth have increased—the only thing that hasn’t is happiness. Numbers from the World Database of Happiness confirm this. During a recession, happiness naturally performs even worse, with consumers experiencing status anxiety more deeply: “Why do others have more than ... http://anxietyindex.com/2010/03/coca-cola-and-the-happiness-economy/ As we discussed recently, too many choices can paralyze consumers, creating anxiety and deterring people from making any purchase at all. So Nokia’s new naming convention for its phones is a step in the right direction for a company with a multitude of products. The phones are grouped into four series ... http://anxietyindex.com/2010/03/nokia-refines-naming-system-to-help-consumers-overwhelmed-by-choice/ Among the Top 10 most popular words/phrases for 2009 in Japan, a list compiled by publisher Jiyu Kokuminsha, was Reki-jo—literally, “history girls.” Young Japanese women are suddenly taken with Japanese history, in particular warlords and famous samurai of the Warring States period (the mid-15th to early 17th centuries). And it ... http://anxietyindex.com/2010/03/seeking-heroes-japanese-look-to-history/ Value deals and incentives proliferated during the downturn as consumers with shrinking budgets increasingly focused on finding deals. This includes “Buy one, get one free,” or BOGOF, offers. But encouraging consumers to get more than they need creates a huge amount of food waste, something the Department for Environment, Food ... http://anxietyindex.com/2010/03/rip-bogof-hello-bogofl/ In a post-recession environment, it’s not just the usual car, home and holiday that is worrying the upwardly mobile, urban Indian. It’s also the latest buzz word: terrorism. After the mid-February blast in Pune—a comparatively smaller city with a large student population—terrorism is suddenly back and very close to home. ... http://anxietyindex.com/2010/03/anxiety-rises-in-india-after-pune-blast/ In Spain, unemployment—currently at 18.8 percent—is the main public concern, and we aren’t seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet. This situation has hit one generation more than any other: youngsters who are neither studying nor able to find work. A recent study showed that 15 percent ... http://anxietyindex.com/2010/03/spanish-reality-show-portrays-a-generation-stranded-by-recession/ Leading Indian automaker Maruti Suzuki is the latest entrant in the “Recall Club,” joining distinguished names that include Toyota, Honda, Peugeot Citroen and, more recently, Hyundai. All these brands have recently recalled one or more models in various markets around the world. In India, Maruti Suzuki recalled 100,000 A-Star models, ... http://anxietyindex.com/2010/03/recall-phenomenon-hits-india-investors-and-consumers-overanxious/ After a year spent surveying brand and consumer response to the recession through our AnxietyIndex.com, we have released our top 10 brand lessons from the Great Recession. “The Recession Handbook: Brand Lessons from the Great Recession” emerged out of the quantitative and qualitative research that we conducted during the downturn. Over ... http://anxietyindex.com/2010/03/the-recession-handbook-brand-lessons-from-the-great-recession/ Walmart, Target, CVS and Walgreens are among the major retail chains paring brand-name products from their shelves in favor of private-label brands. This means fewer choices for consumers. Although conventional wisdom has it that people prefer more options, and a recent analysis in the Journal of Consumer Research seems to ... http://anxietyindex.com/2010/03/in-times-of-stress-perhaps-less-equals-more/ Climate change is a major source of anxiety for Australians, with many believing it will get worse in the near term, as detailed in this AnxietyIndex report. Anxiety arises when a danger cannot be identified or clearly perceived, and the barrage of opinions and conflicting information surrounding the climate change ... http://anxietyindex.com/2010/03/will-climate-change-anxiety-lead-to-apathy/