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The economic downturn is causing consumers to adopt a thriftier mindset, including hunting for coupons and looking for deals, the results of a new survey Bank of America Corp. released this week suggests. In a telephone survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted March 23 to March 27, 60% of respondents said they are spending more time than ever looking for discounts and promotions, and 37% of those are looking for deals and coupons on the Web. Forty percent of respondents said managing day-to-day expenses and finding new ways to save money are among the biggest challenges of the economic downturn. Some 79% of consumers who said they were saving more money than they were three months ago are doing so by dining at home more often, while 75% said they are saving more money by conducting research and comparing products before buying. Some 62% said they were seeking advice before making purchases. Some 44% of those surveyed said they were cutting costs by using retailer loyalty programs, and 34% said they were saving money by participating in credit card rewards programs. "We're seeing consumers increasingly trying to make smarter purchasing decisions and trying to achieve their savings goals," Dan Ariely, a Duke University professor and author of "Predictably Irrational," who helped conduct the survey, said in a statement.
