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Ho Chi Minh City - 19 December 2006
Along with an improving consumer confidence comes a more positive disposition among consumers to spend. According to ACNielsen, the world’s leading market research and information company, globally, 43 percent of the world’s Internet consumers think now is a good/excellent time to buy the things they want and need in the next 12 months.
Across all regions, nearly half of North Americans are all set to embark on a shopping spree, followed by 44 percent of Latinos and 41 percent of consumers in Asia Pacific. The result for Asia Pacific also represents an increase of seven percentage points from the previous survey conducted six months ago.
The ACNielsen Online Consumer Confidence and Opinion Survey is the largest half-yearly survey of its kind aimed at gauging current confidence levels, spending habits/intentions and current major concerns of consumers across the globe. The ACNielsen Consumer Confidence Index is developed based on consumer’s confidence in the job market, status of their personal finance and their readiness to spend. The latest survey, conducted in late October/early November, polled about 25,408 internet users in 46 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, the Baltics and the Middle East.
Spending sentiment in the next 12 months
“Consumers in general are more upbeat about the state of their personal finances and less concerned about the economy and job market. As we head into the Christmas trading period, this has effectively ‘switched on’ their spend button,” said Mr Bienvenido Niles, Regional President, ACNielsen Asia Pacific.
By markets, consumers most likely to go on a spending spree in the next 12 months continue to hail from the world’s most optimistic countries of Denmark (71%), India (68%) and Norway (66%).
The high spending propensity is mainly driven by consumers in Asia Pacific where all markets except for Japan registered an increase in intentions to spend. In particular, over half of consumers surveyed in New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong perceive the next 12 months as a good/excellent time to spend on things they need. Other countries in Asia Pacific worth mentioning are Thailand (43%), Malaysia (42%) and Vietnam (41%) where a marked increase of seven to 12 percentage points in consumers’ readiness to spend in the next 12 months is recorded compare to the last survey.
Globally 58 percent of world consumers are optimistic about the state of their personal finance in the next 12 months led by India (87%). At 53 percent positive, Asia Pacific recorded an increase of four percentage points from 49 percent in the last survey with Indonesia (77%) ranked the second after India, followed by the Pacific (72%). Again, both Thailand and Vietnam showed the biggest improvement in consumer perception about the state of their personal finances by 13 points and 11 points respectively.
“India’s booming economy, with disposable income on the increase - in parallel with a growing desire to keep up with the latest trends, make it a dream market for international manufacturers and retailers,” observed Mr Niles. “The recent entry of Walmart is a good testament to the growing importance of the India market; with the current rate of one modern store for every 400,000 people, the room for expansion is considerable.”
Retailers should be all set to maximize sales opportunities this Christmas, as consumers prepare to spend in the next 12 months, and as the crucial holiday selling period begins! Among the various spending options, New Clothes (35%) overtook Holidays/Vacation to become consumers’ top choice for disposing of their spare cash, followed by 34 percent for Out of Home Entertainment and Holidays/Vacations respectively. 32 percent also choose to Pay off debts/credit card bills/loans with their spare cash.
“The composition of the top 10 countries most likely to opt for New Clothes is a strong reflection of the aspirations of consumers from developing countries such as Russia (74%), Vietnam (52%) and Poland (51%) to catch up with fashion trends, alongside countries with long-established fashion empires like Italy (45%) and France (44%),” Mr Niles observed.
As consumers become more willing to loosen their purse strings they also show greater desire for Out of Home Entertainment and Holidays/Vacations. Vietnam (56%) tops the world with most people choosing to use their spare cash on out of home entertainment, followed by 54 percent of Russians and 48 percent of Spanish. China is the other Asian country in the top 10 most ready to spend on out of home entertainment.
In terms of Holidays/Vacations, Thailand, renowned for its hospitality and tourism, has most people claiming they would spend on holidays/vacation if they have spare cash. Together with Singapore (52%) and China (48%) the trio comprises the world’s top three countries most likely to take holidays/vacations.
Meanwhile, led by the Vietnamese (60%), Thais (58%) and Russians (55%), 29 percent of world consumers and 31 percent in Asia Pacific are considering spending their cash on new technology gadgets.
“It’s worth-mentioning that Vietnam has constantly made it into the top ten in terms of optimism in the economy and spending desires. In fact, we have seen a continued increase in the ownership of new technology products by Vietnamese consumers who are at the same time spending more on pampering themselves as the country becomes more affluent,” observed Mr Niles. “Retailers and service providers are sure to capitalize on this new consumer spending sentiment and find ways to sustain the spending desire going forward.”
Asia Pacific has the most savers in the world
Despite greater consumer confidence, the world’s top savers still reside in Asia Pacific, however, compared to the last survey, less claim to put their spare cash into savings (49%). Thailand again led the “Top Ten Global Savers” list, with 71 percent claiming to save their spare cash after covering essential living expenses, followed by people in Singapore and Taiwan (60%). The Philippines (57%) and Hong Kong (55%) are the only two markets in the top 10 savers list that have less people opting to save their spare cash. UAE is the only non Asian market that ranked among the top ten, with 53 percent opting to save.
About ACNielsen
ACNielsen, a VNU business, is the world's leading marketing information provider. Offering services in more than 100 countries, the unit provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behavior. Clients rely on ACNielsen's market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns. To learn more, visit www.acnielsen.com.
46 Markets Covered: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czechs Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Thailand, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom, US and Vietnam.
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