A tip for small business owners, he says, is to focus on individuality. “The desire for sameness is over. Consumers want to co-create their experiences and products and stamp them with their own mark,” he says, pointing to McDonalds and Hungry Jacks who have already jumped on the bandwagon with designer burgers.

Also fast becoming perceived as “almost obscene” says Morrison, are large energy inefficient homes and petrol-guzzling motor vehicles.

Stephen Kelly, Associate Professor and Head of the School of Commerce and Management, Southern Cross University agrees but he believes that while a small group is motivated by green credentials, the primary driver of the majority is price.

Having said that he notes that some airlines are giving airline passengers the opportunity to pay an additional fee as a carbon offset to alleviate their carbon footprint from flying. The Qantas offset contributions go towards Australia-based Greenhouse Friendly approved abatement programs, which may include energy efficiency measures, generation of renewable energy and tree planting projects.

International air travel, he says, may soon be priced beyond the budgets of average consumers.

Barney Foran, visiting Fellow at the Institute of Land, Water and Society at Charles Sturt University, Albury, says that one of the biggest factors determining “what’s in’ and “what’s out” over the next 10 to 15 years will be the rapidly diminishing supply of the world’s oil.

Not only will this make public transport economically and politically correct it will impact on the vast range of consumer items that are derived from oil, the most far-reaching being plastic and fertilizer. This says Foran, will cause a number of alternatives to emerge in the market and many others to become prohibitively expensive.

“The inflationary impact of triple digit oil will pose a real risk to Western economies in terms of its inclusion in pretty much every product out there,” says Whitehead.

Everything related to consumer belt tightening, he quips will become the new “in”.