India at top in consumer confidence in Apr-June: Nielsen

Consumer confidence level in India jumped by seven points during the second quarter of this year bringing India at the top position globally with the change in government at the Centre, global information and insights provider Nielsen has said.
As per a global consumer confidence index study by Nielsen, India which was ranked second in the first quarter of 2013 is now the most optimistic country, followed by Indonesia and the Philippines.
Consumer confidence in India was indexed at 128 in Q2 2014, seven-point increase from Q1 2013 (121).
"Consumers in India have indicated increased levels of confidence in the second quarter when the country's general elections were taking place," Nielsen India Region President Piyush Mathur said.

"This buoyancy is yet to translate into increased consumption across sectors. Despite the ongoing inflationary trend and expectations of a poor monsoon, consumers are likely to open their purse strings as we head into the festive season in response to savvy marketing stimulus," he added.
As per the survey, three in five (60 per cent) online respondents polled indicated that this is a good time to buy things they want and need, up by six percentage points from last quarter (54 per cent in Q1 2014) and over four in five respondents (83 per cent) are optimistic about job prospects, over the next twelve months - a nine percentage point increase in sentiment from last quarter.

"India is the most optimistic globally about local job prospects over the next 12 months and is followed by the Philippines (77 per cent) and Indonesia (76 per cent)," the survey said.

Seventy -nine per cent indicated that the state of personal finances was good or excellent in the second quarter 2014, up from 76 per cent in Q1.
However, the top concerns amongst respondents continues to be job security (23 per cent) and the state of the economy (20 per cent).
The concern on the state of the economy has increased by five percentage points over last quarter (15 per cent), it added.

The Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions, established in 2005, measures consumer confidence, major concerns, and spending intentions among more than 30,000 respondents with Internet access in 60 countries.