Coupon Clipping and the Theatrics of Thrift

A recent New York Times article, A Clip-and-Save Renaissance, pronounces that coupon clipping is chic again. Whole groups of people who once shunned clipping coupons, the affluent and the young, are getting out their scissors. According to the article, coupon redemption rose for the first time since the early 1990s with a 10% jump in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared with the same period a year earlier.

What's behind this trendy behavior?: Consumers are responding to the recession and the events around them with a repertoire of thrift-seeking behaviors we call the Theatrics of Thrift. What we are finding is that simply engaging in these thrift-seeking behaviors helps to alleviate our collective anxieties, the stress in our day-to-day lives:

“I don’t really understand the details behind much of what is going on, and I surely don’t feel like I have any of the answers to this mess, but I know what I can do is try to help my family save wherever possible…”

“…at the end of the day, all I can do is to try to do my part.”

“I mean, how would I feel about my role as a mother and the family shopper if I just continued in my same old routine while the world seems to be going to hell…”

Simply put (or not so simply put): We engage in the Theatrics of Thrift by altering our traditional (pre-recessionary) shopping behaviors and styles in certain patterned ways that serve as an antidote to the current collective anxiety regarding the economy and our institutions.

While traditional coupon behavior is surging, here are a few insights on keeping your eyes online:

• Online coupon behavior is much more diverse, unpredictable and uncontrollable
• 100% of the qualitative consumers reported online as an important source of coupon collecting and nearly 80% reported “mommies groups” as an important source
• Many online “mommies” groups often limit access to outsiders with complex vetting processes
• A surprising number of qualitative respondents (~1/3) reported regularly purchasing coupons on secondary markets such as eBay

Retailers and manufacturers alike need to become increasingly creative and flexible with their coupon strategies—especially as consumers abandon traditional media for online media.

(Watch for more on the Theaters of Thrift in the coming weeks.)