Eating healthy is a goal for most people, but is often difficult to achieve. Work and family responsibilities make time scarce, and the recent recession prompted many to search for value over healthier choices.

While improving economies may prompt consumers to return to restaurants or take a vacation, one trend that looks likely to remain—and perhaps even grow—is the shift to private label goods.

Nielsen and the Chinese Economic Monitoring & Analysis Center surveyed shoppers across China and found consumer confidence slowing among those in cities, but steadily increasing among consumers in rural villages.

Following the positive trends exhibited in the first quarter of 2010, Europe’s second quarter was a disappointment according to the latest Nielsen European Growth Reporter.

One in seven people surveyed said they intended on buying residential property as an investment – a sharp drop from the one in four who indicated the same desire a year ago.

In many developing markets, inexpensive and available mobile phones serve as a substitute pathway to the Internet. Rapid mobile phone adoption presents “reverse innovation” opportunities for clever marketers who leverage the trend.

Sales may increase when a brand is promoted, but is the promotion actually supporting the brand? In Australia, it is estimated that up to 30% of all grocery purchases are made on promotion and trends indicate that this could increase among the key retailers.

The baby boom in Europe and the United States has been well documented: lower birth rates combined with longer life expectancies have resulted in an older population. This trend also extends to Latin America, where more mature adults will soon make up more than a quarter of the population.

Video consumption across multiple platforms is now a global phenomenon. Consumers in all regions are proving their insatiable appetite for video information and entertainment – thus far adding screens to their media mix, not replacing them.

Widespread ownership of mobiles is only a fairly recent development in China, but consumers there have fully embraced the technology and in some ways are using it more robustly than their American and European counterparts.