Should You Launch Products During a Recession?

“I expected to see a big difference between the success of necessities, such as toilet paper and food, and that of discretionary products, such as hair dye,” says M. Berk Talay, the lead author of the study and a professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. “I thought discretionary-product launches would be more likely to fail, because nonessential purchases tend to decline in tough economies. But the effects are consistent across products and categories. A recession might be the ideal time to launch your product no matter what it is.”