With hopes for a full economic recovery accelerating in 26 out of the 28 major global markets, consumers around the world might be expected to return to their previous spending patterns.

Australia’s advertising sector appears to have avoided the worst of the ongoing shockwaves of the global financial crisis, although the impact on ad spending was significantly more severe across main media in the second half of the financial year…

The notion that the global economy may be on the verge of recovery has not yet translated into improved consumer spending or confidence, although consumers in the emerging countries – Brazil, India and China – seem to be more optimistic than others and are loosening their purse strings ever so slightly, according to the new edition of the Nielsen Economic Current.  Of the 12 countries Nielsen now tracks, all but Taiwan (which declined) showed no significant change in measures of spending.  Canadian, Western European and American spending was, at best, …

Canadians are feeling better about the state of the economy, and are some of the most optimistic globally, according to Nielsen’s Global Consumer Confidence Survey.  Confidence in Canada rose 6 points – above the global average and well above confidence levels in the U.S. (where confidence continues to be flat).  This renewed feeling of confidence seems well placed in light of a recent report from the Bank of Canada, released after Nielsen’s survey, which declared that the recession has ended in the country. 
“After nearly two years of downward trending, we …

Consumers around the world are becoming more optimistic that economic recovery is starting to take root according to the recently released Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Survey, and Chinese consumers in particular are feeling good about their prospects.  Consumer confidence there increased 6 points from the March survey, and China jumped from tenth to sixth place in the global rankings behind Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Brazil and Australia.

Chinese consumer confidence is higher in the East and North regions of the country versus the South and the West, and consumers in smaller …

According to the latest Nielsen Global Confidence Survey conducted in the second half of June, Australians are seeing encouraging signs of economic recovery with strong consumer confidence levels and optimism about the state of their finances and willingness to spend over the next 12 months.
Australia ranked fifth of the 28 markets Nielsen measures, just behind fast-growing developing countries Indonesia, India, the Philippines and Brazil, and well ahead of other developed nations.
Forty-four percent of Aussies believe “now is a good/excellent time to buy the things they want,” second highest of all …

Consumers’ hopes for an end to the Global Economic Crisis have been bolstered in the 2nd Quarter 2009, according to a Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Survey released today. The Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index, conducted in 28 markets in June 2009, rose to 82 – an increase of 5 points (from 77) from March 2009 – spurred by renewed consumer optimism and stock market gains in BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and key Asian countries. [See full graphic for complete details]

“In the previous Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence survey conducted …

Consumers in 10 of the world’s top economies continued to be wary of spending their money in May, according to the latest edition of the Nielsen Economic Current, which provides a snapshot of global consumer and retail trends across 10 countries which represent nearly 65 percent of global GDP.  Tracking key performance indicators, Brazil and the U.K. led the pack with solid improvements in their scores, while the U.S. and Canada showed declines.  The rest of the countries tracked (China, France, Germany, India, Italy and Spain) showed no movement from …

Global consumer spending appears to be on the rebound, driven by sales gains in China, India, the U.S. and Canada in April, another indication that the global economy may be stabilizing as consumer attitudes and confidence turn up. For the first time in four months, since the creation of the Nielsen Economic Current (NEC) scorecard of consumer behavior, a monthly report from The Nielsen Company, none of 10 major GDP countries showed declines in consumer activity compared to the previous month.
“Although consumers are still not shopping as frequently, we are …

Given the current, sluggish economic climate, retailers will have to look hard to find growth opportunities in the U.S.
According to Nielsen Claritas, they might start by taking a closer look at large, fast-growing metro areas, like Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix. 
These three markets ranked as the top three fastest growing U.S. markets in the last eight years — and could offer the retail industry some hard-to-come-by expansion opportunities, Nielsen reported in a new study released Monday.
“While some of these markets like Phoenix and Los Angeles have been hard hit by the recent wave …