A kicked-over trolley in a puddle of blood: that is the image stamped on the front of the new marketing guide Buyer's remorse: why anti-brand values are killing consumerism. The guide's thrust is simple - kiss the shop-till-you-drop age of conspicuous consumption goodbye.

Greet the dawn of the "post-consumer" - a virtuous entity "more conscious of community rather than status, value instead of indulgence, and basic needs not bling," writes the guide's trendspotter author Alan Fairnington (www.mext.com.au). In Fairnington's view, in response to the rise of ethical consumption, firms can and must raise their horizons: adapt or die - of shame, perhaps.

Shoppers are now after "basic needs not bling".

Open consumption has become embarrassing, according to analyst Scott Goodson in a July 2009 Business Week confession that he shops online when nobody is watching. Underlining Goodson's misgivings, a PricewaterhouseCoopers report released in March this year stated that "rampant and excessive consumption" is waning.

During the recovery, a business' success will depend on recognising that shoppers remain in recession mode, the report said. Quelling impulse, shoppers will spend with deliberation and purpose, it added.