Edible essentials, like bread, milk, cheese, and fresh produce, were among the top retail categories for October, according to Nielsen. 

Discretionary items like carbonated beverages, candy, and snacks were also among the top sellers in October — but most of these categories showed year-over-year unit and dollar sales declines.

Top Categories: October 2008 (Dollar Sales: Food/Drug/Mass Merchandiser Sales)

Top Categories: October 2008 (Unit Sales: Food/Drug/Mass Merchandiser Sales)

Products geared toward at-home use — canning supplies, baking ingredients, and wine — were among the fastest growing food, drug, and mass merchandiser retail categories in October, according to Nielsen. 

That trend may signal a shift in consumer behavior, as Americans increasingly opt to save money by staying in and eating at home. 

Fastest Growing Categories: October 2008 (Dollar Sales Growth: Food/Drug/Mass Merchandiser Sales)

Fastest Growing Categories: October 2008 (Unit Sales Growth: Food/Drug/Mass Merchandiser Sales)

Learn more about global consumers’ responses to the current economic crisis on Nielsen Wire.

Hybrid Ads include customized ads, branded promos, vignettes, interstitials, and micro-series where sponsor messaging is combined with program or entertainment content.

Recall refers to the percentage of television viewers who can recall, within 24 hours, a hybrid ad’s sponsor.

A hybrid ad’s “recall score” is the percentage of television viewers who can recall, within 24 hours, the sponsor of a hybrid ad they were exposed to during the normal course of viewing primetime TV on broadcast and major cable networks.

Recall scores are indexed against the mean score for all new hybrid ads during the time period to calculate an ad’s “recall index.”

A recall index of 100 indicates average recall.  A recall index of 279, for example, means that a hybrid ad has proven to be about 2.8 times as memorable as the average new hybrid ad during the four-week time period.

Recall refers to the percentage of television viewers who can recall, within 24 hours, an ad’s sponsor.

A traditional ad’s “recall score” is the percentage of television viewers who can recall, within 24 hours, the sponsor of an ad they were exposed to during the normal course of viewing primetime TV on the broadcast networks.

Recall scores are indexed against the mean score for all new traditional ads during the time period to calculate an ad’s “recall index.”

A recall index of 100 indicates average recall. A recall index of 195, for example, means that an ad has proven to be slightly less than twice as memorable as the average new ad during the four-week time period.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in Ad Age.

Likeability refers to the percentage of television viewers who report liking an ad “a lot” after viewing it, among those who are able to recall an ad’s brand.

A traditional ad’s “likeability score” is the percentage of television viewers who report liking an ad “a lot” (among those who can recall an ad’s brand) after being exposed to it during the normal course of viewing primetime TV on the broadcast networks.

Likeability scores are indexed against the mean score for all new traditional ads during the time period to calculate an ad’s “likeability index.”

A likeability index of 100 indicates average recall. A likeability index of 190, for example, means that an ad was 90% better liked than the average new ad during the four-week time period.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in Ad Age.

The findings come from Nielsen’s Global Online Consumer Survey, conducted in 52 markets worldwide between September 22 and October 6, 2008.

Only 18% of respondents said they believe the recession will be over within a year.  Younger survey participants (ages 25 to 29) expressed the least amount of confidence, with just 6% saying the recession would be over within 12 months.  Older respondents (ages 65 and older) were also pessimistic about an immediate end to the recession — only 7% told Nielsen they believe the recession will be limited to one year.

More women than men (91% vs. 82%) feel the U.S. economy is in recession.  Men were also more optimistic than women about their personal finances — 39% of females described their finances over the next 12 months as “not so good,” compared with just 28% of males.  In addition, only 16% of women surveyed think their job prospects over the next 12 months will be good, compared to 26% of men.

Of those surveyed, 38% told Nielsen the ailing U.S. economy will be their biggest concern over the next six months.  Increasing fuel prices were the top concern for 10% of respondents, followed by debt (9%), increasing utility bills (7%), increasing food prices (5%), and job security (5%).

“By the end of the second quarter, most U.S. consumers had already come to the conclusion the country was in recession,” James Russo, vice president, Marketing, Nielsen, noted.  “As far as consumers are concerned, it doesn’t particularly matter that a growing number of economic indicators are pointing in that direction.  They were feeling pain in their wallets and bank accounts long before October’s tumultuous stock market activity.”

In order to cope with their economic woes, U.S. consumers told Nielsen they are trying to reduce their use of gas and electricity (67%), cutting back on out-of-home entertainment (56%), spending less on new clothes (55%), and using their cars less often (54%).  Just 4% report taking no action at all.

Those who do have extra money left after paying the bills told Nielsen they are hesitant to spend it.  After covering essential living expenses, 38% of U.S. consumers put any spare cash into savings, while 36% use it to pay off debts, credit cards, or loans.  Nearly a quarter of consumers (24%) report having no spare cash. 

View the full press release.

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

View results from Nielsen’s global survey of consumer confidence.

Learn more about the current state of the U.S. retail sector.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in Seeking Alpha, Adweek, and Convenience Store News.

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

Likeability refers to the percentage of television viewers who report liking an ad “a lot” after viewing it, among those who are able to recall an ad’s brand.

A traditional ad’s “likeability score” is the percentage of television viewers who report liking an ad “a lot” (among those who can recall an ad’s brand) after being exposed to it during the normal course of viewing primetime TV on the broadcast networks.

Likeability scores are indexed against the mean score for all new traditional ads during the time period to calculate an ad’s “likeability index.”

A likeability index of 100 indicates average recall. A likeability index of 153, for example, means that an ad was 53% better liked than the average new ad during the four-week time period.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in Ad Age.

Recall refers to the percentage of television viewers who can recall, within 24 hours, an ad’s sponsor.

A traditional ad’s “recall score” is the percentage of television viewers who can recall, within 24 hours, the sponsor of an ad they were exposed to during the normal course of viewing primetime TV on the broadcast networks.

Recall scores are indexed against the mean score for all new traditional ads during the time period to calculate an ad’s “recall index.”

A recall index of 100 indicates average recall. A recall index of 216, for example, means that an ad has proven to be slightly more than twice as memorable as the average new ad during the four-week time period.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in Ad Age.

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.