For decades, the U.S. has moved away from being a nation that manufactured products to one that buys things that are made somewhere else.  Given that model, our economy is very dependent on consumption through retail sales to spur growth and profit.
Surveys we have conducted at Zogby International continue to show American society moving away from that model. We are experiencing a paradigm shift that rejects the necessity of owning the next great new thing, and instead embraces satisfaction through relationships, leisure activities, volunteerism, self-expression and spiritual fulfillment. The latest evidence of this came in a series of questions we asked to more than 40,000 U.S. adults in a July interactive survey.

Read all of John Zogby’s article on how Americans are choosing to live with less at Forbes.com.

Paul consumption, culture, economics charity, consumption, economy, international, John Zogby, leisure, race, zogby

It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time to vote on what question will go on an upcoming Zogby Interactive survey. Last week’s winning question asked about President Obama’s trip to Europe. Look for a blog post on that question coming soon!

This week’s user-submitted survey questions are below. The questions are shortened to save space on our blog post, but these are the basic ideas. Take a look though and then vote for which question you’d most like to see on the next Zogby Interactive survey. As a reminder, if you’d like to submit a question to be considered for a Zogby survey, use the “contact us” box on the right of the page. And if you’d like to join Zogby’s interactive panel to answer questions similar to these, click here.

1. A survey on American weddings conducted by the Conde Nast Bridal Group revealed that the average amount spent on a wedding in 2007 was $27, 852. Do you feel this amount is too high, too low, or just right to spend on a wedding?

2. In general, do you believe that people are likely to change their political ideology as they learn new things and encounter new people, or do you believe that people are not likely to change their ideology even for these reasons?

3. Which of the following is the most common way you donate money to charity – give over the internet, give over the phone, respond to appeals sent through the mail, respond to appeals made in person, another way, do not donate to charity?

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Katy methodology charity, ideology, internet, Obama, Top Question Tuesday, zogby