Consumption is Growing
According to a study by Nielsen Brazil, the Northeast is recording the most consistent growth. In addition, the increase in consumption in the Northeast also outstrips the average. While the region has grown by 8 percent, Brazil’s average consumption has risen by 6 percent in the product categories tracked by Nielsen. This growth is having very positive effects. Over the past two years, the number of low-income consumers has dropped three percentage points, from 67 to 64 percent.

On average, households in Northeastern Brazil have four to five members (43%), low incomes (64%), and consist of younger homemakers who tend to shop based on price and promotions. These households predominantly patronize traditional and wholesale channels.

Local Brands Dominate
Regional brands greatly stand out in the Northeast, exceeding national brands by double digit percentages in seven of the 12 categories Nielsen studied. In the first half of the year, regional brands of bottled water and powdered milk increased in volume by 39 and 21 percent, respectively, far outpacing the 8 and 2 percent growth rates recorded by national brands. While many of these products are manufactured by national or global companies, they are branded under names specific to the region to better fit the consumption profile there.

This growth phenomenon may also be attributed to manufacturers’ adaptation to the region’s needs through more competitive pricing (30 percent below the market’s average) and packages that prioritize cost rather than benefit. Manufacturers are investing in the pursuit of customers entering a new consumption phase.

Influencing Factors
Factors such as sophistication and indulgence are also starting to emerge and influence lower-income consumers. An example is the toilet paper category’s two-ply segment, which recorded a volume increase of approximately 40 percent compared to 2009, with the Northeast again standing out. In terms of indulgence, this shift is illustrated by sandwich cookies. In value, the biscuit category (wafers, Marie, salted, water crackers, etc.) increased by 4 percent compared to 2009, with sandwich cookies accounting for 59 percent of that growth.

These are good examples of how manufacturers are innovating to meet the needs – both economic and preferences – of a local population. And in Northeast Brazil, consumers are rewarding these brands with their business, proving once again that businesses have to intimately know who their customers are and how to appeal to them.

The U.S. market, which faced six straight quarters of declines in ad spending, has seen a turnaround in 2010. In total, advertisers spent an estimated $54 billion during the first half of 2010. The increase in U.S. advertising reflects a modest improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in the first half of the year, as advertisers look to highlight value deals and increase promotions in the hopes of spurring consumer spending.

However, with confidence still well below pre-recessionary levels, automotive was one of only a few bright spots in the top 10 product category ad spending.

Overall, there was a 3 percent increase in the top 10 product categories, with the largest growth by far seen in automotive (+27%) and auto insurance (+23%). The automotive advertising was driven largely by increased spending by General Motors which was up 73% over 1H09. Ford and Toyota also grew their ad spending by 15% and 22% respectively. An increase of 82% for UAW Health Care Trust contributed to the first half growth in the auto insurance category. All other categories, except department stores (+5%) and restaurants (+2%) showed declines in the first six months of the year.

“Not surprisingly, auto ad spending is closely tied to auto sales given that those sales dollars enable increased marketing expenditures,” said Sallie Hirsch, SVP of Research for Nielsen’s automotive unit. “Last year was abysmal for the auto industry as economic factors drove down sales to very low levels. Now that we’re seeing an improvement in the market and consumers are more willing to open their wallets, car sales have started to rebound and that’s what’s driving the increase in ad spending for 2010.”

Looking at ad spending across media types, U.S. television (network, cable, syndication, spot, Spanish Language network and Spanish Language cable) continues to dominate, accounting for $33.8 billion in advertising during the 1H10, a 6 percent increase over last year. Spanish language network TV and Cable TV in particular saw the biggest gains, up 24 percent and 13 percent respectively over 1H09.

Print media overall (national and local magazines, newspapers, Sunday supplements and B2B) was flat, however, national Sunday supplements received a significant uptick with 21.6 percent growth over last year. National newspapers were also up 10.8 percent. Alternatively, B2B and local Sunday supplements declined 19.2 percent and 12.1 percent respectively.

Eating healthy is a goal for most people, but often times a difficult one to regularly achieve. Work and family responsibilities often make time scarce, and it is easier to go out to restaurants or prepare ready-made meals at home. The recent recession also prompted many to search for value, and sometimes healthy options such as organic produce and other environmental considerations took a back seat as they are oftentimes considered more expensive than “standard” products.

The Nielsen Company gauged the world’s view of healthy eating, organics and other related issues earlier this year as part of a global online survey, polling more than 27,000 consumers in 55 markets from Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East/Africa (consisting of countries from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and South Africa), North America and Latin America. The views were diverse, but at the very least, most people want to do right when it comes to the foods they consume.

Healthy Eating Uptake Faces Barriers
Financial concerns (33%) proved to be a major, but not the primary, obstacle to healthy eating around the world. The biggest barrier was a perceived time crunch for survey respondents, with 35% of consumers agreeing to the statement that “I don’t always eat healthily because I haven’t got time”. Availability (26%), confusion about which foods are healthy (24%), substandard taste (25%) and the desire to treat oneself (41%) were the other main considerations preventing healthy eating.

Latin Americans were the most likely to cite time constraints as an issue—5% more than the global norm. Higher cost deterred North American consumers from healthy food choices, with an 11% higher score on this factor than the global average. Ready availability of, and confusion about healthy food was an issue for about one-third of consumers in the regions of Middle East/Africa/Pakistan and Asia Pacific. North Americans were the most likely to avoid healthy foods because of a belief that they don’t taste as good. Europeans and North Americans both scored highest at 44% and 45% respectively for opting for tasty, non-healthy treats in place of more healthy choices.

Organic Growth Takes Root
Organic foods, which feature production methods that reject synthetic materials and compounds, have gained a fair amount of media attention in recent years, and with good reason: they are popular with 40% of survey respondents, particularly shoppers in Asia Pacific where 47% said they buy organic, Latin America at 45% and Middle East/Africa/Pakistan at 43%. North America falls well below the global average, with only 24% of consumers saying they actively buy organic. Thirty-five percent of Europeans say they actively buy organic products.

People prefer organics for a host of reasons, including: the belief that they are healthier, pesticide-free, more nutritious, environmentally-friendly, taste better, not genetically-modified (GMO), supportive of small farmers and rural communities, the right thing to do ethically, and a vote against modern farming methods.

Asia Pacific shoppers lead the world in saying they buy organic because of the health and nutrition factors, while consumers in the Middle East/Africa/Pakistan region say they opt for organics as they taste better. But North American consumers lead the way on virtually every other criteria such as avoiding toxins, caring for the environment, keeping GMOs out of their diet, encouraging small farms, acting on principle, and rejecting current farming techniques.

Sustainable Shopping
Exploring the environmental attributes consumers consider when grocery shopping, the study determined that the most important criteria with global shoppers was the availability of locally made products (33%), stores that participate in fair trade practices (28%) and a selection of organic products (25%). Other green attributes on the grocery selection radar screen included green or ethical products (24%), products in recycled packaging (23%), farmers market products (21%), short shipping distances (18%), items with little or no packaging (17%), and products not tested on animals (14%).

What’s clear from this survey is that consumers’ hearts are in the right place: they generally want to eat more nutritiously and purchase foods that are grown, raised and produced in responsible ways. That said, when finances are tight, consumers tend to turn to those products that offer the most value, whether they are healthy and environmentally responsible or not.

Regional View Points

Asia Pacific
Consumers in Asia Pacific lead the world when it comes to intention to purchase organics (47% compared to global average of 40%). Compared to the global average, Asia Pacific consumers who actively buy organics are most likely to do so because they view organics as healthier (82% vs. global average of 76%) and more nutritious (57% vs. 51%). Consumers in this region who will not go organic are most likely to cite higher costs and taste preferences. The availability of fair trade products at the grocery store was important to 40% of respondents, which was the highest of any region.

Europe
Europeans know what’s healthy and what’s not, but are most likely to pick a non-healthy treat over a healthy alternative. Europeans were the least likely to purchase organics because they are more nutritious compared with other regions. Certain ethical supermarket shopping attributes resonated most strongly with Europeans compared to other regions: locally-made products, distance from point-of-origin, limited product packaging and no animal testing all rated high on the scale of factors that were important when shopping.

Latin America
Latin Americans demonstrated little confusion about what foods are healthy, but admitted that time constraints made it difficult to always do so. Consumers in this region showed the highest concern (38%) about the availability of ethically produced or grown products when grocery shopping, scoring 14 points higher than the global average. They also exhibited a high level of concern for products in recyclable packaging (38%)—15 points more than the global average.

Middle East/Africa/Pakistan
Time and expense associated with healthy eating pose the lowest barriers to this region in which consumers find themselves short on healthy eating options (31%) and are confused as to which foods are really healthy (30%). As a result, they are the least likely of any other regions to select organics because they are healthy, to avoid toxins and bypass genetically modified organisms. However, consumers in this region are the most likely to select organics because they taste better (59% vs. global average of 45%).  They are also the most likely of consumers in any other region (29%) to select products that come from farmer’s markets when grocery shopping.

North America
Aware of healthy eating options, expense was the primary reason they did not eat healthy, along with an unwillingness to sacrifice taste. Environmental and social considerations whet the North American appetite for organics, making it the region most likely to buy organics to avoid toxins (71%), promote environmentally-friendly organic farms (59%), help small farmers (58%), avoid genetically-modified products (45%), do the right thing (38%) and vote against modern farming methods (23%).

In the U.S., annual dollar sales for products with label claims such as organic, natural, presence of fat, vitamins, fiber, caffeine, gluten, etc. range from a high of $46.6 billion for products with fat claims to a low of $56.6 million for foods with plant sterol claims. Organic sales dropped significantly as a result of the economic downturn. In 2006, 2007 and into the third quarter of 2008, organics’ growth rates were strong, averaging between 18% and 30%+. After the September 15, 2008 financial crisis, growth rates for organics dropped dramatically. But there are signs of life in the last several periods, with growth rates nearing 10% in the four-weeks ending July 2010.

Note about online survey methodology
While online survey methodology allows for tremendous scale and global reach, it provides the perspectives on the habits of existing Internet users, not total populations. Where noted, the Nielsen Global Online Survey data is supplemented with the measurement of organic consumption by market.

Shoppers around the world took many steps to stretch their budgets during the recession such as eating at home more frequently or cutting back on vacations.  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.

A 2010 global online survey conducted by The Nielsen Company reveals that 60% of consumers across 55 countries from Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America and Middle East/Africa (consisting of countries from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and South Africa), say they are stocking cupboards with more store brands as a result of the economic downturn. Across the regions, Latin America led the way at 66% and the Middle East/Africa/Pakistan area trailed at 51%.

The highest levels of private label purchase intent during the economic downturn were reported by consumers in Colombia, Spain, Portugal and Greece at 80%, 79%, 74% and 70% respectively, reflecting recessionary realities, depressed export activity and raging deficits. Meanwhile, the lowest reported drift toward private label came from consumers in Sweden (70%), Thailand (62%), Hong Kong (60%) and Denmark (59%) who indicated they did not purchase more store brands during the recession.

While econometric pressures are driving many value-oriented consumer shopping decisions, it is just one factor influencing private label purchasing. A strong push from retailers and improvements in both quality and selection are contributing factors. It should also be noted that not all private label categories are alike. Store brand share varies widely by category and they still represent the minority stake when compared to premium brands.

Store brand share is typically strongest in commodity categories like milk, fresh eggs, rice, edible oil, vinegar and sugar/substitutes or in those with little differentiation (first aid and wrapping materials). Store brand share is usually the lowest among categories where there is strong marketing support for top brands (e.g., candy, gum, beer) and those where a high-level of innovation occurs (e.g., detergents, deodorant, cosmetics).

Staying Power
Fully 88% of shoppers globally said they intend to keep buying private label even after the economy improves, suggesting that store brand quality has reached parity with national brands and delivers on consumer expectations. While Latin American and Middle East/Africa levels were slightly less than the global average at 83% and 79% respectively, the overwhelming majority still intended to pursue a value strategy.

Countries with the most value-conscious consumers on the private label dimension included Austria, Germany and Sweden, all registering a better than 95% intent to continue purchasing private label, while more than one-quarter of shoppers in the Ukraine (31%), Pakistan (28%), the United Arab Emirates (27%) and Venezuela (27%) had no intention to buy private label in the future.

The economic downturn prompted many consumers to try private label goods for the first time, and once they did so, they discovered that not only was the pricing right, but the quality of the goods met or exceeded expectations. Regardless of the pace of economic recovery, retailers continue to have a tremendous opportunity to convert shoppers to private label for the long term.

Regional Round-Up

Asia Pacific
In most Asian markets, private label is still relatively undeveloped with only Hong Kong having a share above 5% overall. There has been significant investment by many leading retail chains into launching new private label products over the last five years and they are gaining acceptance particularly in the basic commodity categories. In these categories, such as cooking oil, rice, bathroom tissue, market shares can reach up to between 20% and 30% in some countries.

Asian consumers are still largely brand loyal and retailers will need to increase their private label marketing support to build consumer trust in their own brands. During the economic downturn in 2009, there was strong private label growth in many countries. For example, in Thailand, private label grew by over 25%, as shoppers increasingly looked for value when buying grocery products.

In the Pacific markets of Australia and New Zealand, private label is much more established with the majority of households regularly purchasing private label products, which account for up to one-quarter of all supermarket sales.

Latin America
Private label continues to have a stable presence in the region. In Chile, store brands represent 8.4% of the market as of April 2010. Market share remained relatively flat in Argentina and Mexico, reporting shares of 7.6% and 6.6% respectively during the rolling year ending April 2010. While Mexico’s private label market share was flat, sales grew 23% compared with the previous period (April 2009). Store brands in Brazil have 4.9% of importance (YTD April 2010).

The categories where private label market share are strongest varies dramatically by country. In Argentina, the top five categories are dominated by foods such as fish, pasta, ice cream and vegetables, while in Chile, four out of the top five are non-food categories (clothes hooks, candles, pots/pans and cotton swabs). In Mexico, sugar and pies hold the greatest market share, but disposable plates, glasses and place settings round out the top five.

Europe
Private label continues to show solid performance in most European nations, with Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Germany leading the way reporting 2009 store brand value shares of 46%, 43% and 32% respectively. While year-over-year growth was relatively flat or minimal, Turkey and Spain boasted the biggest year-over-year increases of 2.7% and 2.5% respectively.

North America
Private label has taken off in the U.S. For year ending July 2010, store brand unit sales reached an average 22% share across all departments, with share gains in all but dairy. Store brand unit shares range from a high of 40% in the dairy department to a low of less than 1% in alcoholic beverages.

In Canada, private label represented $11.4 billion in national sales for year ending July 2010, which is 18.3% of overall consumer packaged goods spend. Over the past year, private label share has declined slightly with overall dollar sales flat, while the total market increased +3%.

Middle East
Middle Eastern consumption patterns often run counter to the West for a variety of reasons, and respondents in the region indicated the least likelihood of purchasing private label today or after economic recovery. However, as awareness has increased over the last few years, volume is growing—albeit from a very small base. While only 18% of shoppers in the United Arab Emirates perceive private label as a better value for the money, certain categories such as household cleaners are regarded more favorably. Fully, one-fourth (26%) of shoppers in Saudi Arabia consider these store brands as worthy.

Note about online survey methodology
While online survey methodology allows for tremendous scale and global reach, it provides the perspectives on the habits of existing Internet users, not total populations. Where noted, the Nielsen Global Online Survey data is supplemented with measurement of private label consumption by market.

Charlie Buchwalter, SVP Research & Analytics, Nielsen Online

SUMMARY: The longer-term prospects for the global online medium continue to be bright. Led by social media, search, video and the continued online ramp up of the leading marketers, online’s share of total advertising spend will continue its steady upward trend as we emerge from the current recession.

Discussing the trajectory of the online medium in the midst of an historic economic downturn is a perilous business. Assaulted every day with downward-facing red arrows, many of the indicators concerning all things digital veer to the negative:

• Online media’s “favorite child” status (i.e., a long track record of outstripping the growth of every other medium by a wide margin) appears to have diminished over the past few months.
• Online advertising by the Financial Services, Retail and Auto industries has shrunk at a dizzying pace over the past six months.
• Online display advertising’s share of revenue has plateaued at 20% of total online ad spend in the U.S., and no panacea appears to be on the horizon.
• Despite online video’s persistent positive buzz, actual usage is averaging around six minutes per day in the U.S.
• The social media trend is today’s industry darling, but a monetization formula continues to elude the globe’s brightest marketers.

The audience growth and engagement quotient of online video is forcing marketers to positively re-assess the value of the online experience. Adoption of social networking capabilities, by both consumers and corporations, has crossed the chasm in what appears to be the blink of an eye. In the age of Twitter, feedback barriers have all but disappeared, creating a near friction-free environment for playing back brand experience, campaign reactions or brand events.

Search continues to be an indispensable tool for all online denizens and opportunities for additional growth continue to emerge. Search across social media networks is likely to be the next opportunity for search engines. And as consumers increasingly turn to their phones for a wide range of online content—improved network speeds and rising smartphone penetration helped to grow the mobile web in the U.S.—prospects continue to improve.

Bright future
While 2009 will not be a banner year for online advertising revenues, online will once again outperform all other media in terms of growth. China will likely be flat to down, partially due to the global slowdown, but more importantly, because it will be hard to match the Olympics-related surge during 2008. The U.S. and Japan will be flat to slightly up. There will be pockets of significant (+25%) growth, but it will be limited to small-to-mid-sized advertising countries such as Brazil, and throughout Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia.

The longer-term prospects for the global online medium continue to be bright. Led by social media, search, video and the continued online ramp-up of the leading marketers, online’s share of total advertising spend will continue its steady upward trend as we emerge from the current recession. And given the increased focus on all things digital by the leading packaged goods companies, online’s share of commerce will continue to rise as well.

When all is said and done, brands see tremendous opportunity to increasingly exploit the digital environment to maximize brand-favorable media impressions, but they are starting to look at the mix more holistically. Consumer-generated content has gained inclusion into the “earned media” club of marketing preferences, and the big question going forward will be how paid and earned media share the marketing expenditure pie.

Growth leaders
Today, online video and social media lead the way in terms of growth. It is rare to see segments significantly grow from both an audience and an engagement standpoint, but there has been exceptional growth over the past couple of years in both video and social media sites. While Member Communities (i.e., social networking sites) have been garnering impressive audience numbers for the past five years, video audiences have been growing at meteoric rates, surpassing personal e-mail audiences in November 2007. And from a time-spent perspective, Member Communities surpassed personal e-mail for the first time in February 2009.

The growth in social media is the single most significant story in the online media space today. Social networking sites eclipsed personal e-mail in global reach at 68.4% vs. 64.8%, in February 2009. And even more significant—in only the first few months of 2009—the reach of these sites is growing at a brisk pace, faster than any other online sector.

Mobile moves
Of course, any discussion about online audience behavior would be incomplete without understanding the mobile dynamic. In the U.S. today, nearly 50 million mobile subscribers access the Web via mobile devices on a monthly basis. In the U.S., the mobile Internet audience grew 74% between February 2007 and February 2009. Internationally, the U.S. is one of the leading markets for mobile Internet penetration, with more than 18% of subscribers accessing mobile Web. This is the highest penetration of mobile subscribers among the markets for which Nielsen reports mobile Internet adoption, followed by the U.K., where nearly 17% of subscribers used mobile Web in Q1 2008.

There’s an increasingly broad range of content consumed over mobile Web, too. While many initially expected the platform to be dominated by e-mail, news and weather, Nielsen’s latest U.S. mobile Internet research reveals a long tail of content interest. Portals, e-mail, weather and news do garner audiences of more than 20 million unique mobile users each, but categories such as food and dining, travel and health and fitness also attract millions of mobile Internet users each month.

Recessionary impact
From an advertising perspective, it seems funeral dirges for online display advertising were heard throughout 2008, and things went from bad to worse in the fourth quarter, when the bottom fell out of the economy and all forms of advertising were hammered. As the dreary holiday season came to a close and 2008 ended with a whimper, many were wondering if the days of online advertising’s favorite-child status were at an end.

While many other metrics registered all-time worst numbers in 2008, Nielsen reports that online advertising overall did a bit better than the doomsayers thought. Quarter four showed a 4.5% uptick from Q3, and a 2.6% increase from Q4 2007. And for the full year, online ad revenues grew more than 10%. Despite the slightly-better-than-expected year-end performance of online advertising, the true impact of the deep recession will be told in the 2009 numbers.

Global roundup
When scanning the globe, the country-by-country online advertising experience is a true patchwork quilt. The Scandinavian countries, Australia and China are clearly in the fast lane, while the U.K., France, Spain and Japan are moving ahead, but at a slower pace. Germany, Switzerland and Italy are barely growing, and the Benelux countries appear to be moving backwards.

It’s clear that the global economic downturn is having an effect on all markets, and while online ad volumes appear to be brisk in some quarters, online ad rates are under such pressure that many advertisers are finding that rates from publishers are essentially the same rates they’re receiving from ad networks. As many of these international markets are starting from a significantly lower base of online advertising, their growth rates will outstrip the U.S. in many cases as the global economy picks up again.

James Russo, Vice President, Global Consumer Insights, The Nielsen Company

SUMMARY: While the emerging markets of Russia, United Arab Emirates, and Brazil suffered the biggest falls in consumer confidence over the past six months, there was no significant further decline in North American consumer confidence, which may signal the first cautious signs of hope that the recession is finally bottoming out. Fears of unemployment and job uncertainly reached new heights as job security was cited as the leading concern.

Global consumer confidence has plummeted to a record new low in the past six months, falling seven Index points from 84 in the second half of 2008 to 77 in the first half of 2009 according to the latest twice-yearly Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index, which tracks consumer confidence, major concerns and spending habits among 25,420 internet users in 50 countries.

Indonesia topped Nielsen’s Global Consumer Confidence Index at 104 points, followed by Denmark (102 points) and India (99 points). The world’s most pessimistic nations in the Nielsen Index are Korea (31 points), followed by Portugal and Latvia at 48 Index points. Confidence fell in 48 out of 50 countries—Taiwan was the only country to buck the global trend, edging up three Index points from 60 to 63, although it is still 14 points below the global average.

Hardest hit
The survey found that the emerging markets of Russia, United Arab Emirates, and Brazil suffered the biggest falls in consumer confidence over the past six months as currency devaluation, weakening export markets and falling global commodity prices took their toll. Consumer confidence plummeted by 29 Index points in Russia (down to 75 points from 104 in September 2008), marking the biggest fall in consumer confidence tracked by Nielsen globally, and UAE and Brazil both fell by 21 points.

And while six months ago, Latin America was the world’s most optimistic region, they have suffered the biggest consumer confidence hit regionally, falling 15 Index points (down to 82 points from 97). Consumer confidence in Europe and Asia Pacific also both fell by seven Index points.

Biggest fears
While global consumer confidence plummeted to a new low, fears of unemployment and job uncertainly reached new heights. Job security was cited as the leading concern among Internet consumers in 31 of 50 countries surveyed. Global concern for job security rose to 22% globally from 9% in the latest round of the survey.

Six months ago, global consumers cited the economy and work/life balance as their two top concerns in life—but consumers’ priorities have rapidly changed along with the economic deterioration. Consumers who cited job security as their top concern in life today include those in Vietnam (36%), Spain (34%), Hong Kong (33%), Singapore (32%), Hungary (31%), China, India and Mexico (29%), and Italy (24%).

Signs of hope
In the last six months, consumer confidence in the regions of Middle East/Africa and North America both declined by two and three index points, respectively. However, no significant further decline in North American consumer confidence may signal the first cautious signs of hope that the recession is finally bottoming out.

Specifically in the United States, while clearly adjusting their spending and savings—with 40% stating they are paying off debts and putting money into savings—American consumers are increasingly optimistic about a light at the end of the tunnel, with close to 20% seeing a recovery in the next 12 months, which is an improvement on the October 2008 results.

And while 77% of online consumers think their economy is in recession, China is the one exception where 65% of Internet consumers thought their economy is not currently in a recession. The Central Government’s stimulus package of US$585 billion equates to 13.3% of GDP and is an enormous shot in the arm for Chinese consumer confidence. February retail sales are still 15% up on last year and many Chinese Consumers now believe the next 12 months could be a good time to go back to investing in stocks and property. Chinese consumers are also maintaining their love affair with travel during the economic slowdown and top the list of markets surveyed by Nielsen when it comes to their intention to spend spare cash on travel.

Saving time
As interest rates continue to fall, consumers appear to be less concerned with paying off their debts and more interested in bolstering their savings accounts. Nearly half (48%) of global consumers said they were putting any spare cash they had into savings while 32% were using spare cash to pay off debts, credit cards and/or loans, up from 30% in October 2008. Nine of the top 10 markets putting their money into savings hailed from the Asia Pacific region.

Slower recovery
Europe remained the world’s most pessimistic region at 70 Index points, seven points below the global average, a clear indication that economic recovery in Europe will be longer and slower to take effect. Within Europe, consumer confidence in Hungary suffered the biggest fall by 19 Index points, followed by Latvia (-17 points) and Finland (-15 points).

Among global online consumers who believe they’re currently in a recession, 52% said they were bracing themselves for a global recession to last 12 months or longer. One in two consumers isn’t expecting any miracles for a quick rebound—steady but stable is probably the best approach they are hoping for.

Recovery is imminent
Not everyone is prepared to suffer a prolonged recession, however. Some consumers are already planning their post-recession party. Among current recessionistas, nearly one in five (23%) online consumers believes their country will be out of recession within the next 12 months, spearheaded by the Vietnamese (60%) and Indians (56%). Two in five Danish and Dutch consumers also believe they’ll be out of recession within a year, along with one in three consumers in Austria, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico and the UAE.

While 53% of those surveyed by Nielsen think their country has hit a prolonged recession that will last more than 12 months, 18% of consumers, concentrated in a handful of emerging markets, like India, Vietnam, China, and Russia, told Nielsen they expect their countries to be out of recession within the next 12 months.

In contrast, consumers in Japan, Germany, Argentina, Mexico, Turkey, Italy, Taiwan, the U.S., and Spain were the least optimistic about the prospects for quick economic recovery.

Nielsen surveyed 28,663 Internet users in 52 markets across Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas, and the Middle East between September 22 and October 6, 2008, as part of its Global Online Consumer Survey.

The survey’s results reveal that global consumer confidence fell to a new low this month, dropping from an index of 88 in May 2008 – previously the lowest index on record – to 84 in October, according to Nielsen.  Only Brazil, the Philippines, New Zealand, China, Thailand, South Africa, and Hungary showed improved consumer confidence, compared with May 2008.

Not surprisingly, consumers worldwide are adopting new strategies to reduce discretionary spending and shore up household finances.
 
On average, 49% of global consumers plan to spend less on new clothing, as well as gas and electricity, according to Nielsen. 

Meanwhile, 47% report reducing out-of-home entertainment, 40% say they’ll delay upgrading to new PCs and mobile phones, and 39% will cut down on take-away meals from restaurants. 

Even necessities, like groceries, are on the chopping block — 36% of global consumers report switching to cheaper grocery brands in order to reduce their expenses.

Overall, consumers in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the U.K., Turkey, the U.S., Colombia, and Argentina plan to make the most changes in their spending habits, as they search for ways to weather the current economic turmoil.

View the full press release.

Read a related press release on consumer confidence in Hong Kong and Great Britain.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings by Sky News and in the Shanghai Daily, the Business Standard (India), Forbes, the Financial Times, The China Post, the Thanh Nien Daily, and the Malaysia Star.

Learn more about global consumer confidence levels in the December 2008 issue of Nielsen’s “Consumer Insight” online newsletter.

Strong advertising growth in the Asia-Pacific region (+7.6% over Q2 2007) drove the increase, according to data released in Nielsen’s latest Global AdView Pulse report.

Ad spending trends worldwide showed significant variations — with overall advertising declines recorded in North America (-1%) and Europe (-3%).

In North America, U.S. ad spending was down by approximately 6%, compared with the same period last year, while ad spending in Canada grew slightly (+1.7%).

In Europe, the drop in ad spending affected all industry sectors and all media — except radio, which rose by almost 1% during the second quarter of this year.

In Asia Pacific, all four major media types (TV, magazines, newspapers, and radio) grew over Q2 2007, despite the detrimental effects of the May 2008 earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province, the Japanese recession, and general softening of the economy.  Of the twelve Asia-Pacific countries Nielsen tracks, only Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan showed declines in second quarter ad spending.

Globally, most industry sectors showed increased ad spending in Q2 2008, as compared with Q2 2007 spending.  The Automotive, Telecommunications, Financial, and Durables categories, which recorded decreased advertising investment in the second quarter of this year, were the only exceptions to that trend.

Among the mediums tracked by Nielsen – television, print, radio, outdoor, cinema, and Internet (where available) — TV showed growth (+3.8%), while all other media recorded ad spending declines.

Nielsen’s report is based on advertising data from 28 markets in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America.

View the full press release.

The 51-country survey polled 28,253 online consumers in May 2008, providing the first global overview on consumer attitudes towards company ethics and corporate responsibility.

“From human rights to poverty and war, and most significantly, the environment – global consumers are collectively speaking out and demanding that corporations make a positive contribution to society,” Amilcar Perez, Vice President, Marketing, Latin America, Nielsen, noted.

Globally, the report indicates that marketing ‘ethical’ products could lead to economic benefit. Two in three global consumers said they would be interested in buying ethical products to support environmental and social causes. More than 75 percent of Greeks, Chinese, Portuguese and Filipinos indicated their support for such products.  While still showing a majority, North American consumers exhibited the least interest in buying ethical products at 57%.

Learn More: Nielsen Corporate Ethics & Fair Trade Presentation.

Read Reuters’ coverage of Nielsen’s findings.