As ruble sinks, Russian consumers feel the pain

The ruble's free fall means even harder times for Russians already beset with a range of economic hardships. Russia's national currency has lost more than half of its value against the dollar since the start of 2014, and prospects for next year are also looking bleak.

Two major factors behind the ruble's tumble are the global oil glut, which has negatively affected Russia's crude oil production, as well as the ongoing Western economic sanctions against Moscow for its actions in Ukraine.

Russian businesses and their owners are suffering. Bloomberg News reports that the nation's 20 richest people have had their wealth reduced by a total of $62 billion this year and by $10 billion this week alone because of the ruble's declining value.

And the emotional toll of the economic crisis may be mounting. The Moscow Times says the co-owner of a Russian financial services company killed himself Tuesday evening at a luxury hotel just across from the Kremlin. "It is possible that the reason for the suicide was the psychological strain [of the ruble's collapse]," the newspaper quoted one police source as saying.

But analysts say the real burden of the ruble's decline has fallen on the nation's consumers.

Russian shoppers have been flooding into stores this week, looking to buy big-ticket items like refrigerators and washing machines while their rubles still have some value. Electronics giant Apple (AAPL) has halted online sales in Russia, and according to The Associated Press the Swedish furniture company IKEA will raise its prices in Russia on Thursday.

There's also the issue of food and other daily staples. "The simple reality is that food prices will continue to rise for everyone, and that will contribute to a decline in real incomes," Alex Nice, an analyst with Britain's Economist Intelligence Unit, tells Russia Beyond the Headlines, an English-language website sponsored by Russia's official Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.

Nice notes that, while Moscow has been reaching out to other international producers for new supplies of meat and other essentials, "all of these options are likely to be pricey."

Analysts also note that Russian consumers differ from their Western counterparts in that they tend to go on shopping sprees when economic storm clouds gather.

"[In the West], when a crisis begins people immediately start saving," Igor Nikolayev, head of the FBK Strategic Analysis Institute, said in an interview with Agence France-Presse. "In our country, when a crisis comes, it is accompanied by a steep loss of value of the national currency and people abruptly start spending and for a time this softens the situation somewhat."

But such behavior is rational, Nikolayev adds, because "everyone understands perfectly well that prices are going to change."

Allen Adamson is chairman of the North American Region of Landor Associates, a global branding and design firm that has been conducting market research in Russia and earlier this year issued a report on Russian consumer preferences. He says the average American consumer can't really fathom the economic uncertainties their Russian counterparts are facing.

"I think this is in a different league," Adamson tells CBS MoneyWatch. "It's not like a store goes out of business at the mall."

While the falling ruble may not immediately affect Russians at home, "currency prices are really tied to national pride," Adamson said. "And if your currency is dropping, there's no way the average consumer on the street feels good. It cuts at core of consumer confidence, of national pride."

Russians are famous for their stoicism, and endured shortages of food and other staples during the Soviet era. But Adamson says those days are over, especially when it comes to Soviet-style control of the media's message.

"The fact is, every Russian is online... and seeing economic realities around the world," he noted. "And you can't spin stories -- whether you're a company, a brand or a government -- anymore and operate in isolationism."

Russian consumers today "are going to be much less patient, much less tolerant," he added. "The social media empowers everyone. You don't necessarily need street demonstrations to force big change in society."