Australian consumers are feeling the pressure from heavy debts and starting to adjust their spending habits, according to Datamonitor's latest research on five key consumer issues for Australian financial services. The report found that 41.7 per cent of consumers aged 25 to 34 and 46.2 per cent of those over 65 years old were streamlining their spending.

"The main evidence for the switch to streamlining is the high proportion of consumers reducing the number of big purchases that they are making, cutting non-essentials from their budget, scaling back on treats and generally adopting a lower-key lifestyle with an emphasis on making do with less," said Andrew Haslip, senior analyst at Datamonitor and author of the research.

The results of the study are significant given that a lot of asset managers are now looking to middle-market clients and emerging markets for potential members of the wealthy class. One of the key effects of streamlining is that consumers seek to pare down expenses, particularly on those items considered to be luxury. The challenge, therefore, is to create opportunities that, despite the price, would be well worth the investment.

In 2009, 35 per cent of consumers said they focused on getting the lowest price when making a purchase; this rate has risen in 2010 to 44 per cent.

"If providers do not learn to accommodate streamlining consumers, by appealing to other aspects of the trend such as the desire for simplicity, they will be forced to deal with higher rates of churn as consumers seek out lower cost deals," Haslip added.