Bigger is, once again, better!

There was a time, not long ago, when American consumers were thinking small. Smaller cars, smaller portions, even smaller homes. Those days are over. If the Small Movement was ever a trend, consider it done.

When you ask retail CEOs, they will all tell you, Americans want Bigger along with their Better. Those two modifiers go together in the American consumer brain like peanut butter and chocolate. This newfound return to excess crosses just about every consumer segment.

In consumer electronics, as tech gets increasingly more advanced, wireless and communicative, consumers are back to wanting bigger TVs and other devices. Sure, iPads are still selling, but the “mini” experiment? Not going as well as expected. And when it comes to TVs, size does matter. Expect consumers to be shopping for something in excess of 55 inches.

Consumer PR

But bigger isn’t just about size. Consumers are after big ticket items this year as well. Expensive vacuums, kitchen tools and sound equipment are all selling well – from mixers retailing for hundreds to headphones selling for twice that.

Part of the trend, according to retail PR managers, is a healing economy. More people are back at work, and everyone seems to have a better opinion of where the economy is headed. More enthusiasm nearly always translates into better consumer sales.

Another popular More Is Better campaign: food. Organic and specialty foods are no longer only for boutique grocers. Even the most mainstream grocery stores have expanded the organic sections. Twice the price for milk and eggs? Half again as much for cereal or fresh fruit? Consumers don’t seem to mind.

The biggest aspect of this good consumer PR outlook is the attitude. Buyers aren’t looking at these Bigger And More expenditures as luxuries or splurges. They are making them part of their basic spending routine, spending on quality and convenience rather than price. Aside from anything else, that is the trend retailers wanted most to see. When people stop worrying so much about pennies and start spending dimes to get what they really wanted all along, that will keep going until consumer confidence begins to flutter. Which, at this point, may be a long time coming.