Roberto Verganti, Professor of the management of innovation at Politecnico di Milano, the author of many books on innovation and competition, shared with HBR readers his secrets of consumers behavior during recession.

According to the expert, in reaction to negative forecasts about consumer demand many companies are focusing on stripped-down "value" products. In doing so, they risk making a big mistake: assuming that consumers in hard times care more about utility and low price and less about the emotional and social dimensions of products.

"While people, of course, do care about price, they care even more about how products give meaning to their lives. Even when they are pressed financially, they do not want to feel poor.

So the challenge for companies is to cut costs without cutting meaning" - concludes the author.