With confidence falling for the seventh consecutive quarter in 31 of 56 global markets according to third quarter global online consumer confidence findings from Nielsen, consumers around the world are more sensitive than ever regarding their future spending budgets.

“Third quarter was volatile and challenging for global economies and financial markets amid stagnant U.S. unemployment figures and a worsening euro zone debt crisis,” said Dr. Venkatesh Bala, Chief Economist at The Cambridge Group, a part of Nielsen. “A recessionary mindset is growing among consumers.”

With growing concerns about the economy, job prospects and rising costs, South African consumers lost confidence in the second quarter of 2011 to an index level of 86, according to Nielsen’s quarterly online Global Consumer Confidence Survey.

For most of the past two years, Vietnam has been on a roll. Virtually untouched by the global economic downturn, the country posted strong GDP growth. Consumer confidence, while fluctuating quite a bit, generally ranked among the highest of the 55 countries monitored by Nielsen on a quarterly basis.

As the advertising recovery gained momentum in the first half of 2010, there were substantial year on year increases in activity particularly among the major spending categories that were most impacted by the advertising cutbacks of 2009; including Motor Vehicles (+14%), Finance (+13%), Real estate (+19%), Communications (+12%) and Insurance (+12.8%).

Indonesian consumers have proven themselves to be optimists. Throughout the economic turbulence that started in 2008, Indonesians remained confident and positive about the country’s economic outlook according to Nielsen’s Consumer Confidence Index.

Latin America was the most confident region according to Nielsen’s latest Consumer Confidence index. Take a closer look at additional regional insights from more than a dozen countries.

If Northeast Brazil was its own country, it would rank as the world’s 39th largest economy. But the region’s size and unique qualities make understanding consumers’ consumption habits a difficult task.

Chinese consumers are notorious savers. They consistently show a higher saving rate than most developed economies—but why? The traditional Confucian frugality theory comes under scrutiny to reveal non-cultural factors that have a role in explaining China’s high savings rate.

Key findings from the third quarter Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index report that consumers find a full economic recovery in 2010 to be highly unlikely.