Consumers’ reluctance to buy is decreasing – but only slowly, according to the analysis by the Institute for Trade, Sales and Marketing (IHaM) at the JKU.
The balance of positive and negative reviews was still in the red at -13 points. Furthermore, almost two thirds of consumers – especially older people – are specifically looking for promotions. Almost half – especially young people – resort to cheaper products such as retailers’ own brands and 22 percent – especially low-income households – limit their purchases at all.
“Despite increasing real incomes, pessimists still predominate among consumers,” writes Ernst Gittenberger from IHaM. “After the long dry spell for the retail sector, this modest recovery in the consumer climate almost seems like a mirage,” said institute director Christoph Teller. Because the data was pointing upwards, “but from very far down.” Teller: “No one should be allowed to burst into a frenzy of joy.”
The results are based on monthly data from Eurostat on the consumer climate and on five online surveys by the Institute for Trade, Sales and Marketing (IHaM), each of around 1,000 adults representative of the Austrian population aged 18 and over.
