Canadians' Consumer Confidence Rebounds Sharply with Good News from Europe and Back-to-School Optimism: Survey

TORONTO, Sept. 13, 2012 /CNW/ - Canadian Consumer Confidence has rebounded substantially on good economic news from Europe, combined with the normal optimism as people return to school and work after a relaxing summer.

According to the latest consumer confidence survey conducted by TNS, the Canadian Consumer Confidence Index gained more than three points, 95.0 in August to 98.6 in September. "Good news from Europe, a jump in the stock market and that sense of optimism that comes with sending our kids back for another school year have all combined to improve Canadians' outlook on the economy," explained Norman Baillie-David, Senior Vice President of TNS in Canada and Director of the Marketing and Social research firm's monthly tracking study. "Canadians have come back from summer vacation feeling pretty good about their financial situation and the economy more generally as we head into the fall."

The Present Situation Index, which measures how people feel about the economy right now, jumped a full six points from 94.0 to 100.8, its highest point since November 2008.

The Expectations Index, which measures people's outlook for the economy six months from now, also rose by another 1.4 points, reaching a five month high since May. "While up till now Canadians' outlook for the next six months has been rising faster than their view of how they are faring right now, this month shows that they are feeling good right now, while expectations are still good looking forward," continued Mr. Baillie-David.

The Buy Index, which measures the extent to which Canadians' feel that now is a good time to purchase a "big ticket item" such as a car or a major household appliance, is perhaps the most important of the sub-indices, because if people feel now is a good time to buy, they may act on it, which will provide the real economic stimulus. The Buy Index also rose 1.3 points, from 92.6 to 93.9, and is at its highest point since May.

Consumer Confidence Index tracks Canadians' attitudes about the economy each month and is part of a global study conducted by TNS in 18 countries. Three indices are produced each month to show how confidence in the economy is changing: Present Situation Index; an Expectations Index; and a Buy Index.

The Canadian fieldwork is conducted using the firm's national bi-weekly telephone omnibus service, TNS Express Telephone.  A total of 1,015 nationally representative Canadian adults were interviewed between September 4 and September 7, 2012. For a survey sample of this size, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

About TNS and Kantar

TNS (formerly known as TNS Canadian Facts) is the Canadian arm of TNS Global. TNS advises clients on specific growth strategies around new market entry, innovation, brand switching and stakeholder management, based on long-established expertise and market-leading solutions. With a presence in over 80 countries, TNS has more conversations with the world's consumers than anyone else and understands individual human behaviours and attitudes across every cultural, economic and political region of the world.

TNS is part of Kantar, one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy groups.

Please visit www.tnsglobal.com for more information.

Kantar is one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy groups. By uniting the diverse talents of its 13 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Its 28,500 employees work across 100 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group's services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies. 

For further information, please visit us at www.kantar.com.

SOURCE: TNS

If you want more information on these results please contact:

Norman Baillie-David, MBA, CMRP 
Vice President,
[phone] x101
[email protected]
@NBaillieDavid
www.tnscanada.ca
@TNSCanada