TORONTO, July 19, 2012 /CNW/ - Canadian Consumer Confidence has sunk to its lowest point in two years. According to the latest consumer confidence survey conducted by TNS, the Canadian Consumer Confidence Index fell back a further 1.8 points in July, from 96.5 to 94.6, which is its lowest point since July 2010.
"Canadians seem to have gotten themselves into a summer funk over the economy." explained Norman Baillie-David, Vice President of TNS in Canada and Director of the Marketing and Social research firm's monthly tracking study. "Canadians are hoping for something positive to emerge eventually, but it's just doesn't seem to be coming. So we're starting to see the glass half empty"
The Present Situation Index, which measures how people feel about the economy right now, also fell again by another 1.4 points in July, from 96.1 to 94.7.
The Expectations Index, which measures people's outlook for the economy six months from now, also fell by a further two points, over and above the three and a half points it had already lost during the month of June, dropping to 97.3 in July from 99.3.
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 fell by a full two points from 93.8 to 91.8.
"Of the three sub-indices, this drop is the one that causes most concern. People's feelings about the economy tend to go up and down based on the previous days' headlines, but when they decide not to make major purchases as a result, this is bad news for the economy if they follow through", continued Mr. Baillie-David.
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 July 9 and July 12, 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.
If you want more information on these results please contact:
Norman Baillie-David, MBA, CMRP
Vice President,
(613) 230-4408 x101
[email protected]
www.tnscanada.ca
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