The heavier burden of debt-servicing costs will constrain consumer budgets over the next year or so.

ECONOMIST: Economic prospects

Analysts say more government spending on such social programs will be required to free up household budgets for consumer spending.

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WebMD said it has historically seen a seasonal pick-up in ad sales in the fourth quarter when drug and consumer products companies use up their remaining promotional budgets.

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It is subject to the fickle nature of the consumer and the evolving nature of their tastes and budgets.

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Auto companies and consumer goods firms have to spend larger percentages of their budgets on transportation and fuel than do banks or a technology services providers.

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The greater fragility of household budgets revealed by the new figures suggests that the consumer slowdown is likely to persist.

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Along with flagging consumer confidence and shrinking disposable income likely comes cuts in vacation budgets and less money spent on airplane tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, as well as less time browsing through travel recommendation sites, which threatens advertising revenue and flattens commission fees.

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Business-to-consumer product companies show the biggest increases in expected growth in marketing budgets (8.6%) and marketing budgets as a percent of firm budgets (17.4%), but not marketing budget as a percent of firm revenues (9.8%) which is dominated by business-to-consumer services companies (16.1%).

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