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Remain Reluctant to Spend
Consumers Remain Reluctant to Spend Despite the Healing
Economy,
According to Decision Analyst
Arlington, Texas—The percentage of U.S. adults who do not plan to make
any major purchases within the next 12 months increased from 26% in 2000 to
49% in 2010, according to Decision Analyst, a leading marketing research and
analytical consulting firm.
Reluctance to Spend. Since 2000, Decision Analyst’s
Economic Index monthly surveys have asked U.S. adults, “In the next 12
months, which of the following are you very likely to do?” Options include
major purchases such as a new home, home remodeling, a new vehicle, new furniture,
a new computer, and a vacation costing over $1,000. The number of U.S. adults
who did not plan to make any of these purchases in the next 12 months increased
by 23 percentage points from 2000 to 2010 (26% of U.S. adults to 49%). This
appears to be related to their concerns about layoffs; the percentage of Americans
“worried” about layoffs where they work increased from 26% in 2000
to 45% in 2010.
Purchase Plans for Homes. The percentages
of consumers planning to purchase a home, existing or new, in the next 12 months
declined steadily over the 2000 to 2010 time span, as shown below. The percentage
planning to remodel their homes in the next 12 months also trended down over
the decade.
Purchase Plans for Furniture and Computers. Purchase
intent in next 12 months for furniture and computers also declined over the
past 10 years, but appear to have ended the decade on an uptick, as shown here.
“All of these trends in purchase plans document how reluctant
consumers are to make major purchases, show how weak the U.S. housing market
is, and reveal how persistent the declines in housing have been.” said
Jerry W. Thomas, President/CEO of Decision Analyst. “The uptick in plans
to buy furniture and computers suggests that these sectors have bottomed out
and will continue to trend upward, a positive signal for the future,”
according to Thomas.
For more information you can download the Decision
Analyst Economic Trends 2000-2010 report in pdf format, or email callen@decisionanalyst.com.
Methodology
The Decision Analyst Economic Index Survey is conducted monthly via the Internet
among several thousand households balanced by gender, age, and geography. The
survey is conducted during the last 10 days of each month. The respondents are
from Decision Analyst’s proprietary American Consumer Opinion® Online
panel, one of the world’s largest online panels with over eight million
members worldwide. The monthly data is aggregated and reported by year in this
report. The margin of error is less than one percentage point, plus or minus,
at a 95% confidence level.
About Decision Analyst
Decision Analyst (www.decisionanalyst.com), based in Dallas-Fort Worth, is
a leading global marketing research and analytical consulting firm specializing
in market segmentation, strategy research, new product development, and advanced
modeling for marketing decision optimization. The 33-year-old firm delivers
competitive advantage to clients throughout the world in the CPG, technology,
food, automotive, healthcare, durable goods, and retail industries.
For additional information contact:
Cristi Allen
Publicity
Email: callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 1-800-ANALYSIS (262-5974) or 1-817-640-6166
Address: 604 Avenue H East
Arlington, TX 76011
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