Opinion

Nearly 1 in 3 consumers have no spare cash – Nielsen’s Q2 survey

29 per cent of online respondents to Nielsen’s latest Global Online Survey say that they’ve no spare cash but compared with the same quarter in 2011, Ireland’s consumer confidence remains steady nevertheless in Nielsen’s Q 2 report.

“Irish consumers may opt to keep their wallets firmly in their pockets for the rest of 2012 until the future looks more promising,” stated Karen Mooney of Nielsen Media, “However, if sentiment continues to improve modestly throughout the remainder of 2012, it may bring about a gradual stabilisation in confidence that will prompt resumed spending on a longer-term outlook.”

According to Nielsen, four fifths of consumers here have changed their spending habits this year to save on household expenses. Nielsen’s State of the Nation survey indicates that the switch to ‘big nights in’ continues and new trends for ‘pre-planned impulse’ are evident.

Only 13 per cent of Irish online consumers surveyed said that they’d spend any spare cash on out-of-home entertainment (down four points on the last quarter).

One notable jump this quarter in savings strategies being adopted was ‘cutting down on buying cheaper brands of alcohol’ (increased four points to 34 per cent), possibly aided by the visible alcohol promotions seen in retail outlets over the football period, suggests Nielsen.

When economic conditions improve, however, 19 per cent of respondents will continue to cut down on going out while 17 per cent will continue to buy cheaper alcohol.

With 94 per cent of respondents here reporting that they believe we are still in recession and a further 80 per cent saying we will not be out of recession in 12 months’ time (versus 49 per cent global average), it seems Irish consumers do not expect any dramatic improvement in circumstances that might stimulate any robust spending soon.

The Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions was conducted from May 4th to 21st this year and polled more than 28,000 online consumers in 45 countries throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America.

  


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