India On Top In Consumer Confidence Index: Nielsen Survey

With the change in government at the Centre, the consumer confidence level in India went up by seven points during the April-June quarter of 2014, lifting India to the top position globally, as per a survey conducted by Nielsen.

India, which 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, which is a seven-point increase from Q1 2013.

"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.

The survey said 60% of the online respondents polled indicated that this is a good time to buy things and more than 83% were optimistic about job prospects.

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

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.