Second Edition of Synovate's Global Recession Survey now released
Synovate, in conjunction with retail analysts Synovate Aztec, recently surveyed over 16,000 people in 26 countries, asking them about the current economic crisis. The survey was a repeat of a survey first conducted in November 2008, thereby allowing changes in people’s behaviours and attitudes to be tracked over time.
New Zealanders were included in both these surveys, providing a rich insight into what New Zealanders are thinking and doing in the recession, and how we differ from the rest of the world.
Synovate has found that people are slowly regaining a positive outlook about the recession, becoming more optimistic for themselves and their country’s economies.
The people believing that their countries’ economies are going to worsen are now a minority (20% of the global sample), outweighed by the larger numbers believing that things have flattened out (44%) or are even in the brink of starting an improvement (30%).
In New Zealand, 36% feel the economy is going to worsen, a decrease from the 51% recorded in November. The proportion believing that the economy is going to remain the same has increased 8% to 27% and 29% feel that New Zealand’s economy is going to improve over the next 12 months (up 6% since November).
Debra Hall, Executive Director of Research at Synovate’s New Zealand office, says this flattening out means that the bulk of consumers’ changes in spending habits will have now occurred:
“If habits were going to change, they have largely already changed. We can also see growing boredom towards the recession and a creep towards small indulgences as people seek some respite. In many areas life has been getting cheaper throughout this year. This helps, of course, to still afford items with which to indulge yourself.”
Hall notes that there’s a strong desire to bounce back to where we were:
“Emotionally, people would like to not have to worry anymore – and do seek out enjoyable things to do as an escape. But rationally they know that it’s too soon to get complacent.”
The survey also revealed that New Zealanders are amongst the most likely to report making spending cuts. 61% of New Zealanders reported making spending cuts in the last six months, down from the level of 73% reported in November. However at 61%, New Zealanders are still 8% more likely than the global average of 53%. Areas where New Zealanders claim to be spending less are fast food (52%), soft drinks (40%), and alcohol (40%). But we are not cutting back where out pets are concerned! Only 5% reported reduced spending in this area, the same figure reported for the global sample.
New Zealanders have also rediscovered home baking as a means to saving money.
Synovate Aztec’s supermarket sales data shows substantial increases of 6% to 9% in the amount being spent on items such as flour, baking accessories, herbs and spices.
New Zealanders are also saving money in quite different ways to those overseas.
We are holding onto the lifestyle expenditure such as holiday travel and dining out, but cutting back on the smaller day to day expenses such as treat foods and branded items that can be replaced with ‘house’ supermarket brands. Synovate Aztec’s supermarket sales data confirms that over 2008 the value of supermarket house brands being sold increased an average of 22% a month. Over the last few months this has reduced to a plateau of around 11%, showing that supermarket house brands are still growing faster than sales overall.
Hall notes that spending less does not automatically mean people are spending less:
“The major fast food brands are all offering substantial value deals, fighting to keep their market share. Consumers are discovering that their fast food dollar is going further than it did a year ago. Likewise we know that while less is being spent on wine, more is actually being consumed – Kiwis are drinking their way through the recession!”
For more commentatry click here for Jonathan Dodd's opinion piece from the National Business Review.