The year of consumer power
552675
Life & style: 2007 saw aggrieved consumers secure a series of corporate climbdowns over everything from Mars bars to bank charges, writes Rebecca Smithers
606456
The stories readers have been talking about this year.
740585
The beginning of the year is traditionally a time to look back, and, for the brave of heart, to make a few predictions looking forward.  Lacking the requisite bravery, I'll just quote something that the Economist wrote recently: Rejoice: the embrace of âopennessâ by firms that have grown fat on closed, proprietary technology is something weâll see more of in 2008.  Now, had this "fearless prediction" been made a year ago, I would have been impressed, because 2007 has turned out to be the year when everyone, it seems, wants to be open. read more
29626
Article by Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, on some of the consumer issues in a cap and trade system.
297816
InfoWorld - Online consumers in the U.S. have had a million things to complain about. Literally.
72747
Looking back on a year of advertising innovation
517854
Next year, our friends in China will be feting the Year of the Rat. We'll have no such luxury. Here in the USA, it'll be the Year of Getting Real. Or so says a brain trust of marketers, activists and cultural anthropologists who live to dissect our shopping, eating, viewing, networking and lifestyle habits.
399083
The average American consumer will spend $702.03 this holiday season, favoring DVDs over jewelry, discount chains over department stores and low prices over customer service, according to a survey sponsored by the National Retail Federation, an industry trade group.
574728
Today's customers are increasingly demanding, in Asia as elsewhere in the world.  Henry Astorga describes the complex reality faced by today's marketers, which includes much higher expectations than we have been used to.  Today's customers want performance, and they want it now!
752384
Battered consumers, faced with weak income growth and rising inflation, trimmed their spending in August by the largest amount in nearly a year. The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer spending, after adjusting for inflation, dropped by 0.1 percent last month, the first decline since a 0.3 percent fall in September 2005, a month when business activity was disrupted by Hurricane Katrina.
165331
Swarovski crystals have created a trend in consumer technology.
513652
The law of supply and demand seems to have been forgotten.
591197
A sampling of ideas from the next generation of consumers--and entrepreneurs.
769435
Although there are a lot of different ways to go about the pursuit of happiness, the assumption underlying the policies of all western governments is that More, Bigger, Faster, Shinier- in the form of maximisation of economic growth is the way forward. This isn't an accident. The western powers are democracies of one form or other and when it comes to consumerism the light is on and burning brightly for the masses. There are however a few reasons why consumerism in its current form isn't a particularly good way to go about the pursuit of happiness, either at the level of individuals or societies.
7585
especially to the electronics industry. This is the time of year when companies begin releasing their shiniest/newest/greatest products to compete for your holiday shopping dollar.
99450
The burgeoning power of the supermarkets has given them an important role in shaping the purchasing patterns of UK consumers.
243616
Chosen from the hundreds of products PC World reviewed in 2007, here are 25 that will change the way you work, communicate and play this year -- and beyond.