Shoppers who still have enough cash and confidence to hit upscale jewelry stores after this holiday season might pause before they scoop up a bunch of bracelets and bangles.

Rather than spend their money on a lot of accessories, they could be more inclined to purchase an heirloom-style watch that will be passed down through the family for generations.

Trends expert Ann Mack calls such behavior "recessionary living," and not surprisingly it tops the list of trends that advertising giant J. Walter Thompson forecasts for 2009.

"They want something that retains long-term value. It's choosing quality over quantity," said Ms. Mack, who believes that the current economic turmoil has created so much anxiety among consumers that even those who remain financially comfortable are thinking more like those worried about job security and those already holding pink slips.

"The economy is all-consuming. It's all they can think about," said Ms. Mack, director of trendspotting at JWT's New York headquarters.

New consumer behaviors that are a fall-out of the economic crisis also dominate the trends forecast from another New York communications agency, Porter Novelli.

Topping Porter's list is "value and values" -- a movement in which money will gradually lose its edge to new values such as stability, sustainability and peace of mind. Porter predicts consumers will look beyond consumption.

"We all have enough stuff; it's not where our heads are anymore," said Marian Salzman, a Porter partner who has gained career recognition as a trends guru.

"We're going to value a lot of other things and not buy stuff we don't need."

Companies that manufacture and sell consumer goods and services -- many of whom have already been hard hit by the economic mess and dismal holiday sales -- probably don't want to hear that people will start the New Year resolving not to shop.

But mega-agencies such as JWT and Porter say their annual forecasts can help clients -- and nonclients who buy the lists -- better position their brands and engage customers despite the global economic woes.

"Clients look at me as a person bringing pragmatic realism. But sometimes they wish I'd just be quiet," acknowledged Ms. Salzman, who helped bring the term "metrosexual" to prominence a few years ago. (Metrosexuals are heterosexual men with attributes such as a high income and a strong attention to appearance typically associated with gay men.)

Earlier this year, Ms. Salzman personally became part of a trend she predicted -- a meltdown in real estate values. "I was seeing a fall-out as real estate values began to drop: small, liberal arts colleges not seeing as many applications; and people withdrawing kids from private schools because they couldn't pay the tuition.

"Then I found out my own home had declined 40 percent in value in the last two years. I live in southern Connecticut where real estate had always gone in one direction before: up. And up between 4 and 12 percent."

At JWT, trends research for 2009 started long before the economy began to unravel in September.

The company relies on "trend scouts" from around the world to feed it quantitative and qualitative information ranging from music and politics to publishing and pop culture, said Ms. Mack.

Consumers were aware a year ago that the economy was teetering because of declines in the housing market and started to adjust their behavior slightly, Ms. Mack said.

"But the free fall in September and October really accentuated it and brought it into the spotlight.

"It came down to the level of, can they afford Christmas or the mortgage."

To counter all the gloomy economic news that surrounds their forecasts, both agencies spin their trends with positive language designed to appeal to basic human values such as "simple pleasures" and "the collective consciousness."

Instead of identifying hordes of laid-off workers as unemployed, JWT describes the trend of looking for a new job as "career reinvention and extension."

Another trend, "authenticity matters," is one that Ms. Mack said businesses should heed if they want to retain consumers' loyalty.

"People have lost trust in a lot of institutions that were once deemed unquestionably reliable. So if you are a company with a long track record or significant history, you should play that up.

"History equals reliability and authenticity. Being a local company also equals authenticity."