By Lorna Brett

A new study by the NPD Group has found that consumers tend to reset their spending habits rather than recover their old behaviours, regardless of the economic environment.

NPD surveyed around 71,000 consumers across eight categories, reviewing almost 60 retailers and 75 brands per category, when putting together its Retail & Brand Landscape Report.

The results were then ranked in terms of shopper engagement, priorities and impressions. In doing this the research group found that the recession impacted on their shopping habits, for example when it comes to store choice consumers now have around 4% more retailers in their consideration than prior to the downturn.

According to NPD the recession also impacted significantly on brand perception, with consumers now looking at 20% more brands in the category in which they intend to make a purchase.

"Overall, consumers have reached this new equilibrium of spending and making decisions about things like groceries and apparel and electronics and automotive," NPD Retail Insights senior vice president Dee Warmath told Marketing Daily.

Warmath said that as consumers emerge from the recession, retailers and brands have been repositioned in their minds.

"The pie has shrunk, so each category is competing with another. So while there is a roving release of pent-up demand, there's not an overall increase in spending," she said.

"As such a new playing field has emerged and new action plans need to be devised. The Retail and Brand Landscape reports can provide the basis for those action plans and help identify the new pathways to growth," Warmath added.