NEW YORK – Businesses such as Discover Financial Services, Citigroup, McDonald’s and Applebee’s more than doubled the amount of dollars spent on freestanding insert coupons (FSI) last year, totaling $904 million last year, up from $413 million in 2006, BrandWeek reports.

Suggesting that economic factors are affecting the increase in coupon use, the idea of cutting coupons has become more attractive to consumers, notes the news source, which found a similarity to shopper behavior during the last recession. Following the 1990-1991 downturn, 94 percent of consumers said they changed their shopping habits and more than half of consumers used cents-off coupons.

For marketers, freestanding insert coupons are a measurable, inexpensive way to reach budget-conscious customers.

“It’s a cost-efficient way to promote our brand,” Mark Scarborough, vice president of card member marketing at Discover, told BrandWeek, adding that in today’s environment, “people are aware of their budgets and want a good value.”

The Internet is also a viable option for distributing coupons, as online versions of coupons are less expensive to create and the offers can be tested faster, according to Arthur Middleton Hughes, author of Strategic Database Marketing.