Real annual consumption growth has averaged about 3.7% between 1998 Q1 and 2003 Q3—well above real average annual GDP growth of about 2.6% during that period. (2) Chart 1 shows that the buoyancy of consumer spending can be entirely accounted for by strong growth in durable and semi-durable goods expenditure (henceforth referred to as 'durable spending' unless otherwise specified). Since 1998 Q1...

1 The goods and services are broken into eight major categories: 1. Food and beverages, including full-service meals and snacks; 2. Housing; 3. Apparel, including jewelry; 4. Transportation, including air fares, fuels, and vehicle insurance; 5. Medical care; 6. Recreation, including sports equipment and pets; 7. Education and Communication, including tuition and telephone services; 8. Other goo...

Being able to determine the equity of a service or goods brand is of paramount importance to marketing practitioners and scholars alike. One way to determine the equity of a brand is through the measurement of brand associations. Few studies have constructed brand association measures in the context of either goods or service brands and most have been constructed to measure traditional goods br...

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the current dollar value of all final goods and services that are produced within a country within a given period of time. “Goods” are physical things that we consume (like a shirt) while “services” are intangible things that we consume but which are not necessarily physical (like education). “Final” means that intermediate goods are excluded from the calculation...