The result of subtraction is called a “difference.” It’s what’s left when you take one quantity away from another. So, we suppose, subtraction results not only in a difference, but it also can make a difference.

While the deadly viral pandemic is far more serious than a cartoon, the social and economic impact of COVID-19 has indeed reduced many norms to mere fragments: smithereens!

With apologies to author Piper Kerman, the Netflix comedy-drama’s title sums up this year’s holiday retail experience.

Voting may be compared to consumer participation in a sales transaction. One can characterize the action of casting a vote as a one-day sale. All product promotion ultimately must culminate in the sale.

A case could be made for retailers to think differently about “place” — channel and distribution, how their product is presented and delivered.

Point-and-click commerce, growing even faster during the quarantine, means more and more cardboard is being consumed by shippers and shippees alike.

The current state of affairs — social, political — is in turmoil in part due to mixed messages from individuals and institutions. The viral pandemic has rendered impotent authoritative and instructive messaging.

From CEOs to CIOs, including a wide array of marketing pros around the world, there exists a struggle to figure out how to adapt business to the changing nature of consumer behavior.

With our consent, based on confidence, businesses can be truly open for business or, more appropriately, prepared for business.

Are shoppers looking for essentials or a distraction, or are they shopping for items to fit a changing lifestyle, both while at home as well as after the crisis has passed (whenever that may be)? The answer appears to be yes, yes and yes.

The dynamic needs of the community are where brands — pervasive, well-known, preferred — come into play.

Wayne Cranford was a student of quality. A master of tone. Not only in the written and spoken word, but also in the way it was written and spoken.

With a pandemic entire countries — indeed, cultures — can be thrown into a type of panic that paralyzes routine activities, including day-to-day commerce driven by consumers.

Consumer Reports published the day after Christmas their list version titled, “The Most Influential Products of the Past Decade.” As they describe it, it’s their editors’ picks for the products and services that defined the 2010s. Here is our abridged and commented-on inventory.

How you feel about the nation’s economy in general, and your personal financial situation in particular, is more to the point of measuring consumer sentiment.

Consumers continually look for convenience and time-savings. Add discounting, and if sales did not grow, a lack of confidence would be replaced by outright fear, and a total lack of economic backbone.

As many know, the pre-op regimen can be extensive. It includes purchasing several pieces of medical equipment to aid in the prevention of possible post-op problems. But where surgery is concerned, some preventive measures before and after surgery are not covered by insurance. Curious.

Setting aside the president’s previous comment that trade wars are “easy to win,” the oft-repeated notion that China, for instance, is paying billions of dollars in tariffs simply does not have the added value of being true.

Most of the districts placed under state control have suffered from fiscal distress, even though the Arkansas Constitution requires the state to provide to all K-12 students an adequate and equitable education.

During this Fourth of July celebratory week, consumers across America will be exercising their independence in the marketplace. We may shop, but we may not. Either way, we will salute in some manner the notion of consumer independence.