These points rang home during the opening keynote by John Gerzema, author of the book Spend Shift: How the Post-Crisis Values Revolution is Changing the Way We Buy, Sell and Live.

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Signs of the shift include better performance by women-owned small businesses, better performance after changing a job in finance, and increased incomes after a divorce.

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Ms. Davda says there is a trend in India toward out-of-home consumption and a steady shift in consumer preferences, with coffee changing from a beverage that was consumed mostly in South India to one sipped nationwide.

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This trend, according to Christopher Leinberger, an urban planning professor at the University of Michigan and visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, stems not only from changing demographics but also from a major shift in the way an increasing number of Americans -- especially younger generations -- want to live and work.

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Consumers' changing eating and drinking habits are also shown in the latest changes - and nod to a shift towards healthy eating and busy lives.

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But in his most recent contest, the congressman faced changing demographics and a redrawn district with more Latino-Americans than African-Americans, a shift that helped Espaillat.

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