The recession = a boom for value hunters

Budget airline Easyjet announce that load factors are up – that means they are selling more seats per plane than last year. Decoding this one gets the impression that the “recession” so far is pushing people to get better prices for discretionary spend items (like holidays) rather than making them cancel their plans. It is bad news for businesses selling high end products to those on a middling income (cf. Marks and Spencer’s trading statement last week). But may not be so terrible for others who can convince the market of their value.

Meanwhile Diane Clarkson at Jupiter Research points at the influence of “user generated content” in driving the decisions of travel buyers. Trust is flowing away from marketers towards peers. It points to a world in which the perception of value is mediated by online conversations, and by the ability quickly to compare prices. The consumer has never been more powerful. …