Global Online Consumer Confidence Report, q2 2011

8/4/2019 Global Online Consumer Confidence Report, q2 2011

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2nd Quarter, 2011

Global OnlineConsumer Condence,Concerns and Spending

IntentionsA Nielsen Report

July 2011


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Copyright 2011 The Nielsen Company.

USAConsumerCondenceDrops

AsiaPacicandMiddleEast/AfricaRegionsSufferDeclines,butRemainMostOptimistic Cash-StrappedConsumersPlanFurtherCutsinAllDiscretionarySpending

More consumers slip back to recessionary sentimentlevels in second quarter

Global online condence declined to its lowest level in sixquarters to 89 as economic recovery hit a stumbling blockand recessionary jitters again reverberated around the world,according to Nielsens quarterly Global Online ConsumerCondence Survey.

There wasnt enough positive news to inspire condenceamong global online consumers in the second quarter, said Dr.Venkatesh Bala, Chie Economist at The Cambridge Group, a

part o Nielsen. Weak economic gures, slowing manuacturingperormance and infation in Asia, an intensiying debt crisis inEurope and continuing political instability in the Middle Eastcombined with rising household expenses in the U.S. have takentheir toll on consumers ragile condence. Hopes or ull globalrecovery in the next 12 months substantially weakened in Q2as the majority o consumers around the world remained in arecessionary mindset.

The Nielsen Global Online Consumer Condence Survey,established in 2005, tracks consumer condence, major concernsand spending intentions among more than 31,000 Internetconsumers in 56 countries. Consumer condence levels aboveand below a baseline o 100 indicate degrees o optimism andpessimism.

In the latest round o the survey, conducted between May 20 andJune 7, 2011, regions o the Middle East/Arica and Asia Pacic

posted the steepest declines o 12 and nine points respectivelycompared to last quarter, but current gures are aligned withyear-ago trends. And condence levels in Europe (74) and LatinAmerica (91) remained largely unchanged edging up one indexpoint each. Despite its nine point dip, Asia Pacic remained themost optimistic region at 98 points, ollowed by Middle East/Arica at 94 points.


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45%

32%

32%

29%

28%

22%

19%

17%

16%

9%

3%

47%

35%

34%

29%

28%

26%

21%

21%

15%

11%

3%

50%

29%

21%

51%

31%

18%

Recessionary Mindset

Second quarter data revealed that consumers have retreatedback into a recessionary mindset and they are tightening theirbelts again ater the last 12 months o slowly improving, butcautious spending, said Dr. Bala. According to the latestsurvey, consumer allocation intentions declined globally in all

discretionary areas rom investing in stocks and buying clothesto taking holidays and upgrading technology compared to threemonths ago. For the outlook to improve or the rest o theyear, consumers globally will look to greater stability in oodand energy prices, as has begun to occur recently, along withabatement o region-specic concerns.

In another indication o how consumers are prolonging therecession sentiment, 58 percent o global online consumers saidthey are still in a recession the most in the past year. O those,more than hal (51%) believe they will still be in a recession ina years time. The number o Asia Pacic online respondentswho said they are currently in recession rose rom 37 percentin Q1 2011 to 45 percent in Q2. And in Middle East/Arica, theeconomic recession lives on or 74 percent o online respondents an increase o nine points rom three months ago.


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13% 12%

12% 10%

10% 8%

9% 7%

8% 11%

8% 8%

7% 7%

6% 6%

6% 5%

3% 4%

Spending Intentions Decline

Twelve months ago, 35 percent o global online consumerssaid the present was a good time to buy the things wanted andneeded, but this gure dropped to 27 percent in second quarterwith signicant pull back among North American and AsiaPacic consumers. At the start o this year, 27 percent o NorthAmerican consumers said it was a good time to buy, but thisreceded to 20 percent last quarter. Likewise, one year ago, 40percent o Asia Pacic consumers elt it was a good time to buythings needed and wanted, but this gure ell to 32 percent in Q2.

More consumers globally are eeling cash strapped as cost oliving expenses and rising ood and energy infation continueto squeeze household budgets. Rising ood prices was againconsumers top global concern, surpassing the economy as thetop concern or the second quarter in a row. Thirty-one percento U.S. consumers said they have no spare cash or discretionaryspending, along with 25 percent o Middle East/Arica consumersand 22 percent o Europeans.


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U.S. Consumer Condence Drops

Consumer condence in the U.S. ell ve index points to 78,two points lower than the previous consumer condence lowo 80 points in the rst hal o 2009 at the height o the globalrecession. Canadasconsumer condence index holds steady at101, dropping just one point rom year ago and previous quarter

ndings.With rapidly rising gas prices, infationary pressures atcheck-out, continued woes in the housing market with homeoreclosures and declining property values, unsettling weatherpatterns creating fooding and tornado damage and a stagnantjob market, condence among U.S. consumers ell in the second

quarter, said Todd Hale, SVP Consumer & Shopper Insights,Nielsen U.S.

On the U.S. retail ront, the top 20 percent o households haveexited the recession, while all other households are showingcontinued restraint in shopping trips and spending, continued

Hale. Consumer-packaged-goods dollar sales were o 0.4percent or the 52-weeks ending June 11, 2011, while dollar salesor the latest quarter within that 52-week period were up 0.5percent the second consecutive quarter o at least modestgrowth.


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Europes Increasing Utility Bills and Infation are

Top Concerns

Increasing utility bills and infation again eclipsed the economyand job security as main concerns in Europe. Its the everydaychallenges o paying household bills and eeding amilies that arekeeping consumers in Europe awake and worrying at night. The

region includes eight o the top 10 lowest consumer condencescores in second quarter.

In Greece, ongoing economic turmoil amid the escalating debtcrisis and widespread domestic protests resulted in a urtherconsumer condence decline o our points in Q2 or the worldsmost pessimistic country where condence levels plummeted toa new low o 41 points.

Turkey suered the biggest decline in the region with a drop osix index points to a score o 77. The recent decline is mainly dueto the anxious anticipation beore the elections that took placeon June 12. The tense environment, also supported by unrestcaused by terrorism, aected the perception on political stability

and condence, said Paul Walker, Managing Director, NielsenTurkey.

German consumer condence dropped our index points in Q2to 88 due primarily to increasing prices and the ear o infationhampered by the Greek crisis and the Fukushima eect, butthe German economy continues to show a bold recovery. TheGerman economy has now been growing strongly or more thanone year. Unemployment rates are declining and job prospectsare good, said Ivar Michaelsen, Managing Director, NielsenGermany. Overall condence is still above the last two yearsand we expect this to be a temporary decline only.

Consumer condence levels in Russia remain low, dropping

to 82 points since the beginning o 2011. Low perceptionson the state o personal nances combined with rising livingcosts have resulted in reluctance by consumers to spend.Overall, consumers in Russia eel more optimistic on themacro environment as job prospects in the next six monthsare avorable compared to last quarter, said Dwight Watson,

Nielsen Regional Managing Director, Russia & North-EasternEurope. But growing prices and utility bills are reducingconsumers expectations to increase uture purchases as Russianscontinue to be weary on the strength o their disposable income,

which continues to hold down overall consumer condencelevels.

In a welcomed sign o some positive news, while still below theEuropean average o 74, Frances eight point condence boostrom 61 to 69 points was a result o the economys one percentgrowth in Q1 the largest growth increase France experiencedsince Q2 2006. Frances economic growth spurt at the starto the year exceeded expectations and the government isbullish about a two percent growth by the end o the year. Thiscondence has rubbed o on French consumers where one inthree (33%) in Q2 expect personal nances or the coming yearto be good/excellent up rom 25 percent in Q1 2011.

Consumer condence in the UnitedKingdom also spiked vepoints in Q2 to 72 with consumers optimistic spirits buoyed bythe warmest spring weather in years, several public holidays andthe royal wedding mania.


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Country Abbreviations:Argentina ARAustralia AUAustria ATBelgium BEBrazil BRCanada CA

China CNChile CLColombia COCroatia HRCzech Republic CZDenmark DKEgypt EGEstonia EEFinland FIFrance FRGermany DEGreece GRHong Kong HK

Hungary HUIndia INIndonesia IDIreland IE

Israel ILItaly IT Japan JPLatvia LVLithuania LTMalaysia MY

Mexico MXNetherlands NLNew Zealand NZNorway NOPakistan PKPeru PEPhilippines PHPoland PLPortugal PTRomania RORussia RUSaudi Arabia SASingapore SG

South Arica SASingapore SGSouth Arica ZASouth Korea KO

Copyright 2011 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved. Nielsen and the Nielsen logo aretrademarks or registered trademarks o CZT/ACN Trademarks, L.L.C. Other product and servicenames are trademarks or registered trademarks o their respective companies. 11/3510

About the Nielsen Global OnlineSurvey

The Nielsen Global Online Survey wasconducted between May 20 and June7, 2011 and polled more than 31,000consumers in 56 countries throughout

Asia Pacic, Europe, Latin America, theMiddle East, Arica and North America.The sample has quotas based on ageand sex or each country based on theirInternet users, and is weighted to berepresentative o Internet consumersand has a maximum margin o error o0.6%. This Nielsen survey is based onthe behavior o respondents with onlineaccess only. Internet penetration ratesvary by country. Nielsen uses a minimumreporting standard o 60 percent Internetpenetration or 10M online population

or survey inclusion. The Nielsen GlobalOnline Survey, which includes the GlobalOnline Consumer Condence Survey, wasestablished in 2005.

About Nielsen

Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) isa global inormation and measurementcompany with leading market positionsin marketing and consumer inormation,television and other media measurement,

online intelligence, mobile measurement,trade shows and related properties.Nielsen has a presence in approximately100 countries, with headquarters in NewYork, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands.For more inormation, please visitwww.nielsen.com.

Spain ESSweden SESwitzerland CHTaiwan TWThailand THTurkey TR

United Arab Emirates AEGreat Britain GBUkraine UAUnited States USVenezuela VEVietnam VN

Region Abbreviations:AP Asia PacicEU EuropeLA Latin AmericaMEAP Middle East, Arica

NA North America

Global Online Consumer Confidence Report, q2 2011

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