‘Indian consumer confidence highest globally’, Nielsen Report

Consumer confidence in India in Q3

of 2012 has gone down compared to last year and 62 per cent believe the country is going through an economic recession this quarter. Yet, Indians, along with Indonesians, continue to be the most upbeat globally, according to Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index.

The levels of optimism reported by Indian respondents this quarter are three points lower than the third quarter in 2011, where India was leading the global sentiment at 121 points, Nielsen said in a statement. “More than three in five online respondents (62 per cent) said they believe India is going through an economic recession this quarter,” it added. In the same quarter last year, only 44 per cent of the respondents had felt India was going through an economic recession. In the third quarter of 2012, India and Indonesia (119) reported the highest index scores globally, followed by Philippines (118), it added.

Commenting on the findings, Nielsen India Region President, Piyush Mathur said, “While the second quarter of the year indicated a growing anxiousness amongst Indian consumers, the third quarter echoes that sentiment across key parameters for the Indian consumer today”. He points out although the sentiment of rising inflation combined with other economic and personal pressures have taken a toll on consumer confidence, the Indian consumer seems to have reconciled with the challenges.

The latest findings reveal, 77 per cent of online respondents in India are optimistic about their employment, which is down from 81 per cent from the same quarter last year but consistent with the second quarter of 2012. The survey was conducted between August 10 and September 7, 2012, polling more than 29,000 online consumers in 58 countries throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, West Asia, Africa and North America.