Posted on 02/19/2009 6:46:10 PM PST by buccaneer81
Untouchable or expendable? Most still shell out for Internet -- but not posh purses Thursday, February 19, 2009 3:25 AM By Margaret Harding THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Hard times, choices
In tough times, consumers are willing to chop some expenses, but not others, according to a survey by BIGresearch. A look at what people said they had to have or were willing to give up, and the percentage of those surveyed who said so:
Must-haves
Internet service: 80.9 percent
Cell-phone service: 64.1 percent
Basic cable/satellite: 60.5 percent
Discount apparel: 43 percent
Haircuts, colors: 40 percent
Expendables
Luxury handbags: 92.2 percent
Satellite radio: 90.9 percent
Specialty apparel: 90.7 percent
High-end cosmetics: 90.7 percent
Maid service: 90 percent
Source: BIGresearch
The simple, bare necessities of life aren't what they used to be.
Information services such as Internet, cell-phone service and basic cable TV have joined food, clothing and shelter as essentials. They're "untouchable" even in a down economy, according to a survey by BIGresearch.
"I can speak from personal experience -- when you've lost your power and you don't know what to do with yourself sitting in the dark," said Pam Goodfellow, senior analyst at the Worthington-based market-research firm. "These are parts of our day-to-day dealings. We're a generation of extreme multi-taskers."
In December, the company asked consumers to identify the products and services they considered untouchable and those they considered expendable.
Time Warner Cable is one of the companies benefiting from "untouchable" status. That company's sales continue to grow, although at a slower rate than what's typical in a stronger economy, spokeswoman Judy Barbao said.
"When people are experiencing financial challenges where they must cut back, it does seem the case that our products are cut less and later than other items," Barbao said. "I think partly that could be attributed to looking for home entertainment as an alternative to expensive entertainment outside the home."
Other untouchables included discount clothing and haircuts and color.
Business has been steady at Shear Fusion, a midprice salon in Gahanna, owner Heather Adkins said.
"People are still coming to get their hair done, but they might wait a little longer between colors," she said. "People want to look good, even though the times are bad."
Some customers are coloring their hair themselves but still will come in for a cut, Adkins said. It helps that the salon has middle-of-the-road prices, she said.
"I think we're getting people who had spent more money, that might want to save a little money," she said. "Instead of paying $40 for a haircut, they pay $20."
Haircuts and colors were untouchable for 40 percent of respondents, but many other salon services -- manicures, pedicures and facials -- were expendable.
Other top expendables included luxury handbags, satellite radio, specialty apparel, high-end cosmetics and cleaning services.
Many people said they were willing to give up these items, but Goodfellow said it's important to keep in mind the portion of the population that is using those things to begin with.
"I could easily give up satellite radio, because I don't have it," she said.
For people who actually do have those services, it could be a different story.
The Maids Home Services has about 150 clients in central Ohio, said operations manager Melissa Driver. She said business hasn't been affected too much by the economy.
"A cleaning company is a luxury," she said. "A lot of the customers that can afford us haven't been hit by the bad economy yet."
One client did cancel the cleaning service after her accountant told her she needed to cut back on spending, Driver said.
That didn't last, though.
"She called back and said, 'Screw the accountant, I can't clean my own bathrooms,' " Driver said. "She decided she was going to cut back somewhere else."
About 64 percent of people surveyed said they already were cutting back on expenses. Goodfellow said that trend has probably continued since December.
"They're really starting to get super-conscious about pulling back and looking to decrease overall spending," she said.
It's an important time for retailers to capitalize on strong customer service, Goodfellow said.
"Build relationships so when this all passes, they'll be coming back to you," she said. "Retailers really need their customers to stay loyal."
Eating out is one of the first things people cut, so the restaurant industry is in trouble, Goodfellow said. A little more than 40 percent of those who are cutting back said they were limiting their visits to fine-dining restaurants, and another 40 percent said they were cutting back on visits to casual-dining establishments.
"If you can make a meal for $10 as opposed to spending $50 eating out, I think a lot of people are opting to do that," Goodfellow said.
However, one of the top "untouchables" was fast food, which 37 percent of people said they would not give up.
"It's not really a guilt trip when you do it there -- if you're concerned with money and not calories," Goodfellow said.
mharding@dispatch.com
Central Ohio ping!
Can’t say I blame them. One time I didn’t have the internet for a whole month when I moved. I was not a happy person to say the least. Besides, how would one go on cool sites like Free Republic if one did not have the internet. ;).
The internet is a necessity, for sure. At a lot of companies,(including mine) you can’t even apply for a job without going online.
Hahaha! It's all relative and depends on how bad things actually get. People are delusional to think that this list can't be paired down to: food, water, and some basic clothes and shelter.
This poll is just a snapshot in time.
Internet service: 80.9 percent —> Free at library and many public places. Or go in with your neighbors and split the cost of wireless. COST ZERO to $10 month
Cell-phone service: 64.1 percent —> Get a prepaid phone. COST $20 month
Basic cable/satellite: 60.5 percent —> Basic is $30 month, but it is amazing how quick you get used to no TV
Discount apparel: 43 percent —> OK COST $100 month
Haircuts, colors: 40 percent —> Flowbee? COST $15 with tip (if a man)
Total on the high end is $175 month...
Personally, I could go without heat or electricity easier than I could go without my cell phone (provided I could find a way to charge my phone, like in my car)
Can’t do without the truck either. easier to do without a house than without a truck.
As for internet...there are ways to get it free. Just park in a motel parking lot...free internet.
No, as much as I love playing online, there was a time when my computer was in the shop and I had to go to the library to use one. I survived a few days of this, so internet service is not an absolute necessity. It would be a shame to let it go, however, since I often use it to make money.
My list can get down to food, electricity (for heat, if the gas is cut out) and the cell phone. It’s cheaper than a land line, and it’s necessary to have a phone in order to get a job. Would not so much as occur to me to pay for cable or satellite TV. Eh!
I can live very, very humbly indeed—cutting up and then chopping firewood, cooking from scratch over the fire I’ve made, making my own clothes, walking places (I’m willing to walk five miles one way, would prefer not to do more than a ten-mile round trip). I grew vegetables last summer, and this summer I’ll not only grow them but can them, too. And next I’m going to learn to hunt. There are plenty of fat geese in the nearby pond, and a forest stocked with deer; it would be a shame to let all that good eating go to waste if things were really hard and my kids were hungry.
No, as much as I love playing online, there was a time when my computer was in the shop and I had to go to the library to use one. I survived a few days of this, so internet service is not an absolute necessity. It would be a shame to let it go, however, since I often use it to make money.
My list can get down to food, electricity (for heat, if the gas is cut out) and the cell phone. It’s cheaper than a land line, and it’s necessary to have a phone in order to get a job. Would not so much as occur to me to pay for cable or satellite TV. Eh!
I can live very, very humbly indeed—cutting up and then chopping firewood, cooking from scratch over the fire I’ve made, making my own clothes, walking places (I’m willing to walk five miles one way, would prefer not to do more than a ten-mile round trip). I grew vegetables last summer, and this summer I’ll not only grow them but can them, too. And next I’m going to learn to hunt. There are plenty of fat geese in the nearby pond, and a forest stocked with deer; it would be a shame to let all that good eating go to waste if things were really hard and my kids were hungry.
Goes without saying, I guess, that ammunition is on the list of necessities.
Absolutely.
I’m a personal fitness trainer, and so far I don’t personally see a negative impact.
I have a side business related to horses. Most people who own horses in this part of the US are either frankly rich, or the next thing to it. (I’m not, goes without saying.) Still, the horse business has absolutely STOPPED. People who are rich enough to casually jet back and forth to the UK for shopping and then take a vacation in Barbados as soon as they come back from that have decided to stop. Horses are apparently too big a luxury. They quit riding lessons, dump the horse (they can’t sell it in many cases because there are no buyers), give up showing, and stop buying the clothes, tack, equipment, trucks, trailers, and other paraphernalia that has kept the multi-billion-dollar equestrian industry going for years.
I bet our Congress gets this stuff for free.
I love what they did in AZ. My sign would read “I want insurance like Congress gets”.
Well, for what it’s worth, with no internet a job search is pretty difficult. Might as well not have a phone either if you’re going to do that.
I can cut pretty much all of my discretionary spending. Internet is not discretionary, it’s required. And power to power the internet. Other than that pretty sure I could do without everything else.
And we learned how to ride - not over and over in a ring or arena but out on the trail. Half the time when we'd go out on the trail on hot, humid summer days, we'd ride bareback - never stopped us from a good gallop and jumping over broken branches, up and down hills and round curvy tight paths, and learning how to stay on when Ol' Dobbin spooked at a bunny dashing cross the trail. Oh, and we rode without helmets. Jeesh.
My heart breaks to hear of the many horses now being abandoned because of the economy. I know you are hurting and hope to God you will get through this. How I wish I could rescue one of those horses but I could never afford the boarding fees.
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