Why They Are Not Buying

THE consumer is hesitant, uncertain, off balance." So says Daniel Yankelovich, head of a Manhattan-based attitude-research firm that recently analyzed the reactions of 8,000 Americans to the economic climate. From the results, Yankelovich identified for TIME nine factors that contribute to the consumer's cautious mood. His report:

1) The value isn't there. Customers feel that prices are so high that they are no longer getting true value for their money.

2) Unemployment is striking close to home. Reports of engineers and other skilled professionals who cannot find work make people feel "Could I be next?"

3) People can no longer count on doing better next year. .These days workers do not automatically assume that each year's income will be higher than the previous year's.

4) A sense of security has been lost. After the stock market dive, millions of small investors no longer feel that their paper profits are enough to entitle them to spend freely.

5) The economy often appears to be falling apart. For many families, electric power cutbacks, telephones that do not work, mistakes in computerized bills and appliances that cannot be serviced at a reasonable cost undermine confidence that the fabled efficiency of the economy is still what it once was.

6) The war looks as if it will drag on. Consumers interpret the news of the Laos invasion as a sign that the war will continue to drain the budget, fuel inflation and contribute in general to a rocky economy.

7) Restaurants and department stores do not seem crowded enough. It is often the little signs like these that make consumers feel insecure and hesitant about climbing out on a financial limb.

8) Savings are not doing the job. Householders save for two main reasons: to protect against a "rainy day" in the event of illness and to provide for their children's college education. These savings now look inadequate as the cost of medical care and college education climb out of reach, making people feel that they have lost control over their livelihood.

9) There is diminished trust in large corporations. Just in the past few years, the public has begun to lose confidence that the larger companies are genuinely concerned with serving consumer needs as well as improving their own profitability.

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