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NEW YORK -- Adrienne Radtke plans to keep riding her bike to work even if gas prices drop. Steve Pizzini got rid of his Cadillac Escalade in favor of a 16-year-old Acura and doesn't expect to have another gas-guzzler. "I had a paradigm shift," said Pizzini, a financial analyst. "I spent the money on a nice car. But to me, it's not worth it. I don't think I will go that route again." Every economic downturn changes shoppers in some way. But this time, experts say the new behavior _ fueled by higher gas and food prices, tightening credit and a slumping housing market _ are the most dramatic and widespread that they have seen since the mid-1970s. So retailers, marketers and investors are all trying to figure out which habits shoppers will keep and which will they drop when the economy recovers. Will the people who switched to... [read full story]
