Last week, I saw a presentation from Carat, the advertising/media agency, where they outlined the most common reactions to debt to a recession. They are (in no particular order):

• Out of control • Alone • Fear of the Unknown • Overwhelmed • Shame/embarrassment

Since there has been a lot of talk about the power of avoidance strategies over growth approaches in a downturn, I thought this is great food for thought. All of these fears are so primal, and almost any product can be positioned to address one or the other.