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29 August 2006
Taipei
Global consumers’ confidence remains at 2005 levels, with Indians leading the world in the 2006 ACNielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index, followed by the Norwegians and Danes. Political stability appears to be a major concern for 45% of Taiwanese, ranking the second of the world.
According to ACNielsen, the world’s leading market research and information company, the 2006 ACNielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index reached 98 which is at par with the in November 2005 study. By regions, the consumer confidence indices were at different levels. North America has maintained at its November 2005 level of 107, while in Asia Pacific (94) and Europe (93) the indices dropped from 101 and 95 respectively compared to the previous survey.
India again tops the world for the third time in a row since the Index was established in early 2005 with the highest score of 131 in 2006, closely followed by Scandinavians, who made their way into the ranking as the world’s second and third most optimistic markets, with Norway and Denmark hitting 130 and 127 respectively.
“India’s booming economy shows no signs of slowing down making the nation the world’s most optimistic again,” said Mr. Bienvenido Niles, Regional President, ACNielsen, Asia Pacific. “However in South Korea, consumers have been impacted by global oil prices and the rising Won in the past few months, a stagnant real estate market has also fuelled insecurity and dampened consumer confidence overall.”
While the level of consumer confidence declined slightly in Asia Pacific with New Zealand and Korea registering a significant decline, it remains a region housing the most confidence consumers of all. On the other end of the scale, both Hong Kong (111), Indonesia (111), Singapore (110) and the Philippines (100) registered increases of five to seven points respectively.
The least optimistic countries in Asia Pacific are Taiwan (80), Japan (79) and South Korea (54).
Global major concerns: Economy, Health and Job Security
While overall consumer confidence has been sustained, globally, consumers continue to cite the Economy (47%), Health (37%) and Job Security (31%) as their major concerns for the next six months with varied levels of importance by regions. The Economy ranks highly in Asia Pacific and recorded a major increase in North America. The level of concern about Health has dropped amongst Europeans but it is still top of their minds. Interestingly, compared to other regions, North Americans were the least concerned about Job Security and noted a drop in the level of concern.
Taiwan’s major concerns: Economy, Political Stability and Job Security
Taiwanese consumers cite the Economy (62%), Political Stability (45%) and Job Security (31%) as their major concerns for the next six months. “While not always a top of mind concern for consumers in Asia Pacific, it’s worth noting that political stability appears to be a major concern for more than four in 10 people in Taiwan,” added Gordon Stewart, Managing Director, ACNielsen Taiwan. “These levels are somewhat higher than more personal concerns such as Job Security and Health, and represent an increase of eight percentage points for Taiwan compared to the November survey.”
Led by Thailand (77%), Malaysia (71%) and Indonesia (70%), eight of the 10 markets expressing greatest concern for the Economy originated from Asia Pacific. Germany and Turkey are the only two European markets with a high level of concern about the Economy, taking over from Greece and Austria who both made the top 10 list in the previous survey.
Ever since reports of outbreaks of the avian flu first appeared in Europe, on the tail of occasional mad-cow incidents, consumers on the European continent have shown increasing concern for their own health, surpassing their North American and Asia Pacific counterparts with nearly four in 10 Europeans cited Health as one of their major concerns after the Economy. Asia Pacific follows at 36 percent and North America at 34 percent.
A new addition to the global survey, Vietnam, ranked 1st on the global list with nearly three quarters of Vietnamese concerned about job security, followed by Hungary (59%) at a distant second and Korea (55%). Other Asian markets occupying the list were Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines. Registering an increased level of concern, Greece replaced Germany as one of the European countries most concerned when it comes to Job Security.
The ACNielsen Online Consumer Confidence and Opinion Survey is the largest half-yearly survey of its kind aiming 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 May/early June, polled about 21,780 internet users in 40 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, North America to the Baltics.
Markets Covered:
Australia (Aus), Austria (AT), Belgium (Bel), Canada (Can), Denmark (Den), Finland (Fin), France (Fra), Germany (Ger), Greece (Gre), Hong Kong (HK), India (Ind), Indonesia (Indo), Ireland (Ire), Italy (Ita), Japan (Jpn), Korea (Kor), Malaysia (Mal), Netherlands (NL), New Zealand (NZ), Norway (Nor), Philippines (PH), Poland (Pol), Portugal (Por), Russia (Rus), Singapore (SG), South Africa (SA), Spain (Spa), Sweden (Swe), Switzerland (Swi), Taiwan (TW), Thailand (TH), Turkey (TR), United Kingdom (UK), United States (US), Czechoslovakia (Cze), Hungary (Hun), Vietnam (Vnm) and the Baltics (Bal) which covers Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
About ACNielsen
ACNielsen 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.tw
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