Shoppers Globally Reduce Spending

随着经济衰退的加剧，购物者对低价大众品牌产品的青睐正在向全球蔓延。尼尔森公司(Nielsen Co.)对全球11个最大经济体消费者行为的一项最新调查发现，在一个国家的经济陷入低迷后不久，消费者的活动会不断改变。这家研究机构的发现显示，全球消费者都迅速转向了低价品牌。尼尔森营销副总裁拉索(James Russo)说，消费者行为的变化可以非常平稳。但是，经济衰退让我们看到的是，消费者正在迅速做出改变。以对电视观众进行调查而闻名的尼尔森计划周五发布第一期全球消费者消费模式的月度跟踪指数。这个新的指数是首次根据来自零售商消费者调查和实地接触的数据单独提供全球消费者趋势的全面情况。这些研究调查了12个最大经济体中的11个，它们是：巴西加拿大中国法国德国印度意大利俄罗斯西班牙英国和美国。鲁索说，尼尔森计划每月更新数字，以评估消费者信心开支购物习惯和促销方面的变化，以确定行为的转变。首份报告涵盖的时间为2009年1月，显示出美国德国和西班牙的消费者受到的压力最大。西班牙经济受到了房屋市场低迷的沉重打击，随着衰退的加剧，该国消费者在去年12月和今年1月之间迅速削减了支出。这项研究发现，在全球范围内，由于信心的下降，消费者减少了购买支出，并转向了大众品牌。他们还表现出减少前往商店次数的迹象，显示对所需商品具有温和的囤积迹象。由于折扣零售商在英国德国等最大经济体中主要市场的普及推低了商品价格，许多欧洲国家在这方面的变化都很迅速，在某些情况下超过了美国。但是，世界部分地区向大众品牌和低价产品的转变很慢。比如，美国俄亥俄州咨询公司Retail Forward的高级零售经济学家巴迪洛(Frank Badillo)就表示，日本消费者长期以来一直保持着很强的品牌意识，这令自营品牌产品处于不利地位。鉴于产品安全问题，中国消费者也表现出对名牌的偏爱。巴迪洛说，品牌被视作了信誉的保证──它就是质量，就是安全，就是耐用。由于许多国家是步美国后尘陷入衰退，今年1月的结果带来了一个让人充满希望的迹象：美国消费者1月份前往商场的次数增加了1.5%，扭转了连续6个月下滑的趋势。Sudeep Reddy相关阅读全球经济加速衰退 2009-04-01购物冲动，一闪而过？ 2009-02-09


Shoppers' preference for less expensive and store-branded products is going global with the deepening recession.A new Nielsen Co. gauge of consumer behavior across 11 of the world's largest economies found consistent shifts in consumer activity soon after a country's economy turned down. The research firm's findings suggest that consumers globally are rapidly adopting less expensive brands.'Consumers can be pretty gradual in their change of behavior,' said James Russo, Nielsen's vice president of marketing. 'But what this recession has showed us is that consumers are making changes quickly.'Nielsen, best known for tallying television viewers, plans to release on Friday the first installment of a monthly tracking index of global consumer spending patterns. The new index is its first to provide a single, comprehensive picture of consumer trends around the world based on data from retailers, consumer panels and local contacts.The study follows changes in 11 of the 12 largest economies: Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and U.S.Nielsen plans to update the figures monthly to assess changes in consumer confidence, spending, shopping habits and use of promotions to identify shifts in behavior, Mr. Russo said.The first release covers the period through January, showing consumers in the U.S., Germany and Spain under the most strain. Spain, whose economy has been hit hard by a housing downturn, showed a particularly sharp change between December and January in consumers quickly cutting back on spending as the recession worsened.Globally, the study found consumers cutting back on purchases and moving to store brands as confidence weakened. They also showed signs of cutting back on the number of trips to stores, showing moderate signs of stocking up on products they need.Many European countries moved quickly on that front, in some cases faster than the U.S., as discounters penetrated major markets in the U.K, Germany and other leading economies to push prices lower.But parts of the world have been slow to shift toward store brands and cheaper products. Japanese consumers, for instance, have long maintained a strong brand mentality that put private-label products at a disadvantage, said Frank Badillo, senior retail economist at Retail Forward, a consulting firm in Columbus, Ohio.Chinese consumers also showed a preference for name brands given the questions about product safety.'Brands are looked on as a source of credibility -- it's quality, it's safe and it's going to last for me,' Mr. Badillo said.With many nations following the U.S. into recession, the January results offered one hopeful sign: American consumers increased their number of store trips by 1.5% during the month, reversing a six-month trend of cutting back on store visits.Sudeep Reddy