Baby boomers have long been considered the generation that did not want to grow up, perpetual adolescents even as they become eligible for social security. Now, a growing body of research shows that the real Peter Pans are not the boomers, but the generations that have followed. For many, by choice or circumstance, independence no longer begins at 21. People between 20 and 34 are taking longer to finish their educations, establish themselves in careers, marry, have children and become financially independent, said Frank F. Furstenberg, who leads the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood. “A new period of life is emerging in which young people are no longer adolescents but not yet adults,” Mr. Furstenberg said.  (more…)

In a sign that perhaps the recession’s hold on the consumer’s psyche is finally loosening, a key measure of consumer confidence climbed for a third straight month in May, a research group said Tuesday, with the outlook for the next few months spiking to pre-recession levels. One can only hope…  (more…)

The average young American now spends practically every waking minute — except for the time in school — using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Those ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day with such devices, compared with less than six and a half hours five years ago, when the study was last conducted. And that does not count the hour and a half that youths spend texting, or the half-hour they talk on their cellphones. And because so many of them are multitasking — say, surfing the Internet while listening to music — they pack on average nearly 11 hours of media content into that seven and a half hours. Of course there is still the option of just saying no.  (more…)

Marketers are facing the litmus test of whether their brands truly are indispensable as retailers show a growing willingness to boot even major, well-advertised brands to improve leverage, margins and lower prices. Costco’s recent decision to strip Coca-Cola products from its shelves in a pricing dispute is the highest-profile sign yet that the age-old battle between marketer and retailer is escalating, due to the growing power of private label, looming package-goods deflation in the face of falling commodity prices, rising pressure on retailer margins, and softening volumes. Facing those factors and armed with data from loyalty cards, retailers are getting savvier about which brands to keep and which to lose. However, faced with shrinking choices after decades of unlimited options, the shopping public may just revolt. (more…) 

Cash was king for consumers who shopped over the Thanksgiving weekend, according to survey results released on Sunday, and that factor could have cost retailers additional sales. Only 26 percent of people who shopped over the weekend said they used credit cards for their purchases, according to a poll conducted for Reuters by America’s Research Group. ”That’s an amazing shift in consumers’ habits,” said Britt Beemer, founder of America’s Research Group.  (more…)

The good news: Magazine ad pages are actually up in the fourth quarter for the first time in a dog’s age. The bad news:Metropolitan Home won’t be around to enjoy it. Hachette Filipacchi Media just announced that it’s shutting down the shelter title following publication of its December issue, choosing to focus its limited resources on Elle Decor, its last remaining home-design magazine.  (more…)

Meat-loving consumers in the United States are eating out less, but they are not forgoing taste and quality as researchers have found that more restaurant-quality prime- and choice-grade steaks are being served on family dinner tables. Beginning in 2008, cash-strapped consumers shifted to at-home dining. As a result, with restaurant business on the decline, meat companies are now shipping more of their restaurant fare to grocery stores and consumers are buying it, according to data presented on Thursday at the Worldwide Food Expo. The accompanying sales data showed sales remain strong for lower-priced meats such as ground beef, hot dogs, and chicken drumsticks. But, there was a noticeable increase in sales of higher-priced premium meats. The sales volume of the more expensive “premium” steaks was up 15.5 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, versus a 13.2 percent rise in “regular” steaks, they said.  (more…)

Global consumer confidence is rebounding, and in the United States has risen for the first time since 2007, amid signs the world economy is picking up although spending is still restrained, a survey showed on Wednesday. Confidence was highest in India, followed by Indonesia and Norway, and was weakest in Japan, Latvia, Portugal and South Korea, although in Korea it had improved markedly, according to a quarterly survey by The Nielsen Company, conducted between September 28 and October 16. So put on a happy face.   (more…)

“I DON’T need family-dinner studies to guilt-trip me,” said Shannon Rubio, a mother of three teenage boys from Spring, Tex. “I do it to myself.” But just in case, Mrs. Rubio, here is the latest, from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse(CASA) at Columbia University: Teenagers who eat with their families less than three times a week are more likely to turn to alcohol, tobacco and drugs than those who dine with their families five times a week. Since the first CASA study in 1996, the news media passionately presses the cause; it’s a cornerstone of the slow-parenting movement. A mushrooming industry of cookbooks, advice columns and even takeout foods repackaged as “family dinners” beckon folks to the table. Coca-Cola, Smucker’s and Stouffer’s were among the sponsors for activities for the annual Family Day (Sept. 28 this year), designed to promote family dinners. So it’s not surprising that many parents, especially mothers, who work night shifts or long hours, or who, like Mrs. Rubio, have teenagers running every which way to activities, are painfully aware that nightly dinners ’round the table are something other families get to do.  (more…)

On Wednesday, the Transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, called the broader phenomenon of distracted driving a “deadly epidemic” at a meeting on the issue in Washington. Real estate brokers, pharmaceutical sales people, entrepreneurs, marketers and others say they have little choice but to transform their cars into cubicles. In this merciless economy, they say, they have to make every minute count, and respond instantly to opportunities and challenges.  (more…)