TORONTO, April 23, 2009 – The latest results from TNS Canadian Facts’ Consumer Confidence Index point to an improvement in Canadians’ perceptions of the state of the economy. Not only is the overall Consumer Confidence Index up – 90.5 today compared to 83.7 last month, an 8 per cent rise – but all the other indices are up too.
“Clearly, one snapshot does not a trend make. But these results do suggest that despite the troubling economic news dominating headlines, average Canadians are sensing the end is in sight,” said Dr. Michael Antecol, vice-president of TNS Canadian Facts and director of the marketing research firm’s monthly tracking study.
While the Present Situation Index, which captures evaluations of the overall state of the current economic and employment situations, is up just over three points to 75.3, the Expectations Index and Buy Index posted dramatic gains.
The Expectations Index, which measures consumers’ estimation of the economy, household income and employment in the next six months, rose for the fourth consecutive month to 97.4 – an 11 per cent increase from last month’s 87.4.
Likewise, the Buy Index, which gauges the degree to which people think the current period is a good time to make major purchases, has bounced back – to 103.9 from 95.3, a 9 per cent boost. The last time this Index was that high was in the second quarter of 2005.
“Any economic turnaround will need consumers to loosen their purse strings. It’s an expectations game. These results suggest this might soon be in the offing. Consumers are saying now is a good time to make that major purchase while at the same time having fairly positive expectations about the future. It looks more and more like the ingredients for a consumer-led recovery,” added Dr. Antecol.
Consumer Confidence Index tracks Canadians’ attitudes about the economy each month and is part of a global study conducted by TNS in 18 countries. Three indices are produced each month to show how confidence in the economy is changing: Present Situation Index; an Expectations Index; and a Buy Index. The Canadian fieldwork is conducted using the firm’s national bi-weekly telephone omnibus service, TNS Express Telephone. A total of 1,015 nationally representative Canadian adults were interviewed between April 13 and 16, 2009. For a survey sample this size, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
TNS Canadian Facts (www.tns-cf.com) is one of Canada's most prestigious full-service marketing, opinion and social research organizations.
About TNS
TNS, who recently merged with Research International, is the world’s largest custom research agency delivering actionable insights and research-based business advice to its clients so they can make more effective business decisions. TNS offers comprehensive industry knowledge within the Consumer, Technology, Finance, Automotive and Political & Social sectors, supported by a unique product offering that stretches across the entire range of marketing and business issues, specialising in product development & innovation, brand & communication, stakeholder management, retail & shopper, and qualitative research. Delivering best-in-class service across more than 70 countries, TNS is part of Kantar, the world’s largest research, insight and consultancy network. Please visit www.tnsglobal.com for more information.
The Kantar Group
The Kantar Group is one of the world's largest research, insight and consultancy networks. By uniting the diverse talents of more than 20 specialist companies – including the recently-acquired TNS – the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and actionable insights for the global business community. Its 26,500 employees work across 80 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies. The Kantar Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WPP Group plc. For further information, please visit www.kantargrouptns.com.
Media Contacts:
Dr. Michael Antecol
Vice President
Tel: (416) 924-5751 x339
e-mail: michael.antecol@tns-global.com
David Stark
Vice President,
Public Affairs
Tel: (604) 668-3306
e-mail: david.stark@tns-global.com
