Google has faced a more hard-line approach in Europe, where critics have accused the antitrust authorities of relying too much on outside complaints from competitors rather than on evidence of consumer harm.
On Thursday, evidence of consumer fear was evident in U.S. June chain-store sales, which showed shoppers flocking to low-cost outlets.
Retail sales were down 0.8% month-on-month in February – a larger-than-expected fall that provides more evidence of consumer weakness.
The retailers' profits are "further evidence of consumer confidence".
According to a recent report from Cone Communications (2012), there is strong evidence of consumers' increasing focus on CSR activities: 83 % of Americans wish brands and companies would support worthy causes, and 41 % have purchased a product associated with a cause.
There is mixed evidence on whether consumers save money buying cars online.
Presentation format was informed by the National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines on presenting evidence to consumers (National Health and Medical Research Council, 1999), current literature (Brundage et al, 2005) and focus groups of patients and caregivers.
"There had been little evidence of any impact on consumer spending on services and non-durable goods, although there were some reports of consumers becoming more hesitant around purchases of higher-value goods".
Although consumers are interested in comparative healthcare information [ 5- 9], multiple studies also demonstrated that the use of this information has been limited [ 3, 4] and there is limited evidence of an effect on consumer choice [ 3, 10, 11].
Some retailers gained on evidence some consumer spending had held up over the critical holiday shopping season.
