Port Washington, N.Y. - Thirty-seven percent of Americans believe they will spend less on entertainment products and devices this year, compared to just 18% who anticipate spending more, according to a new survey conducted by market research firm NPD Group. Just under half of respondents (46%) said they thought they would spend about the same amount in 2008 as they did last year.

The only age demographic to buck the overall trend, however, was the lucrative teen market, 30% of whom expect to spend more this year, compared to 25% who think they will spend less.

Consumers who said they planned to spend more on entertainment this year were primarily focused on new devices like Blu-ray Disc players and game consoles, rather than entertainment content like DVDs and music.

"Entertainment has historically been a reasonably recession-proof spending category, but in the 2001 recession there were a spate of new gaming platforms, DVD was a relatively new format, and music CDs hadn't yet suffered the full onslaught of digital downloading," said NPD analyst Russ Crupnick.

"It appears from our recent consumer surveys that the current economic climate might be more challenging for those who make and sell entertainment products."

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