The media have a lot to answer for,and part of the problem is that TV channels, like BBC NEWS have to fill 24 hours of news - which is a problem for 2 reasons. 1st they take anything they can get their hands on, and secondly they don't have time to check out whether it's accurate. In print media the days have gone of researching stories, the staff are mostly there to cut and paste from press releases pushed out by political parties, big business, and "think tanks" with separate agendas. Every day you find stories in print, on the TV and online, about the current "recession" which are inaccurate and misleading. Yesterday the Scotsman published a headline screaming the pound was suddenly falling dramatically against all currencies. When you look at the data it turns out it's the dollar that is rising against all currencies, and the pound is level pegging with the euro. In the article they misquote data as being "the lowest since..." when in fact it is the "lowest rise since....."
All this doomsaying does have an effect on spending, so the media have a significant responsibility to get it absolutely correct.