调查：危机让美国消费者不再冲动

　　Tights, sunglasses and boneless chickens have joined the list of casualties of America's economic crisis, as the era of impulse shopping gives way to more wary behaviour in the nation's grocery aisles.
　　紧身衣、太阳镜和拆骨鸡也成了美国经济危机的牺牲品，因为如今冲动购物的时代已经结束，消费者们开始在美国各地的杂货店里左挑右选。

　　Americans unwilling to pay extra for their food to be prepared bought $65m more whole frozen chickens in the third quarter than a year earlier, and $50m fewer boneless birds, according to a study of store loyalty card data covering 250m transactions a week.
　　一项针对每周2.5亿笔交易的商店忠诚卡数据的研究显示，今年第三季度，不愿为食品加工额外付费的美国人比去年同期多购买了6500万美元的冷冻整鸡，购买拆骨鸡的金额减少了5000万美元。

　　“Instant gratification” categories such as sunglasses and tights registered some of the steepest declines in the study by Catalina Marketing, which gathers loyalty card data from 40,000 US supermarkets and pharmacies representing $800bn of US consumer spending a year.
　　研究发现，太阳镜和紧身衣等“即时满意”(instant gratification)类商品的销量跌幅最大。该项研究由卡塔利娜营销(Catalina Marketing)完成，收集了涵盖美国每年8000亿美元消费支出的4万家美国超市和药店的忠诚卡数据。

　　Eyewear was down 43 per cent in unit terms, while 29 per cent fewer packs of tights were sold as women “took better care of the tights they had already purchased”, according to Marla Thompson, Catalina's vice- president of national accounts.
　　按销量计算，眼镜的销售减少了43%，紧身衣的销售减少了29%——卡塔利娜的国民账户事务副总裁玛拉·汤普森(Marla Thompson)表示，这是因为女性开始“更加爱护自己已经购买回去的紧身衣穿戴”。

　　Men, keen to look sharp in the office as the country faces its highest unemployment rates for a generation but unwilling to spend on the salons that had enjoyed a male grooming mini-boom, bought 28 per cent more hair-care products at grocery and pharmacy chains.
　　在美国面临20多年来最严峻就业形势的情况下，男人们渴望在办公室保持最佳形象，但不愿把钱花在曾经享受了一轮男性美容业务小高潮的美容院里，而是在杂货店和药品连锁店购买了更多护发产品，增幅达到28%。

　　“The old world was about instant gratification, but in the new world consumers are making a shopping list . . . They're less impulsive,” Ms Thompson said. “Changes in shopping behaviour suggest some new habits may be emerging.”
　　“过去讲究‘即时满意'，而现在消费者则会仔细拟定购物清单……他们不再那么冲动了，”汤普森说。“购物行为的变化表明，一些新的消费习惯可能正在形成。”

　　The complex interchange of financial and emotional impulses is being felt even by the nation's cats and dogs as consumers traded down from “wet” pet food, but then supplemented their animals' more basic diets with snacks “so they still feel good about it for their animals”, Ms Thompson said.
　　就连美国的宠物也感受到了主人们在财务和情感上的天人交战，消费者减少了“软湿型”宠物食品的购买，用更多零食作为宠物们的基础饮食，“让他们感觉自己依然对得起自己的动物”，汤普森说。

　　The study identified other changing habits with implications for retailers, consumer goods manufacturers and marketers. A trend away from eating out led to a 70 per cent jump in the number of ice cream cakes sold, as more children's birthday parties took place at home. Ready-to-eat popcorn purchases were up 55 per cent and sausage dinners up 27 per cent as more evenings were spent in front of the television.
　　这项研究还发现了一些正在改变的消费习惯，这些习惯将对零售商、消费品制造商和市场经营者的行为产生影响。在外就餐减少的趋势，导致冰淇淋蛋糕的销量激增70%，因为越来越多的儿童在家举行生日派对。即食爆米花购买量上升了55%，香肠晚餐销量上升了27%，因为消费者有更多的夜晚在电视机前度过。

　　Popcorn and sausage dinners notwithstanding, some Americans remain willing to pay up for a healthier diet. So-called performance drinks, such as protein smoothies and vitamin-enhanced water, were up 67 per cent, or $7m, at the expense of cola sales.
　　尽管爆米花和香肠晚餐的销量上升了，但仍有一些美国人愿意在健康饮食上面花钱。所谓的能量饮料，比如蛋白质刨冰和维生素增强水等，销量增长了67%，销售额提高了700万美元，而可乐的销售则相应下滑。
　　
　　译者/功文