According to the BIGresearch October Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, consumer attitude towards the economy continued to improve in October. 49.9% of the 7,623 consumers in the survey said they were confident or very confident in chances for a strong economy in the next six months, which is up from 43.4% in September.
Joe Pilotta, VP of Research for BIGresearch, said "... greater confidence in the economy... usually translates into greater spending for the holidays."
The impact of gas prices are also lower as more consumers are saying fluctuating gas prices are having no major impact on their spending, 29.3% versus 24.4% last month. And, consumers are also anticipating lower pump prices at Thanksgiving than they previously expected in September. They anticipate the price of a gallon of gas will be $2.55 by Thanksgiving, which is almost $0.30 less than last month when they anticipated the price to be $2.84 a gallon.
"Consumer expectations are the basis for action, lower price, more cash and greater spend," said Pilotta.
More from the October Consumer Confidence Survey:
Personal, Financial and The Economy:
The Immediate Future
The 90 Day Outlook continues to brighten in October from last month and last year, according to the BIGresearch Diffusion index (those who say they'll spend less subtracted from those who'll spend more). Lawn & Garden took the seasonal tumble, but all other categories improved:
Retail Merchandise Categories - 90 Day Outlook (October 06 compared to September 06 and October 05) | |||||
Category | VS. Sep. 06 | VS. Oct. 05 | Category | VS. Sep. 06 | VS. Oct. 05 |
Children's | UP | UP | Toys and Games | UP | UP |
Women's Dress | UP | UP | CDs/DVDs/Videos/Books | UP | UP |
Women's Casual | UP | UP | Electronics | UP | UP |
Men's Dress | UP | UP | Groceries | UP | UP |
Men's Casual | UP | UP | Home Improvement | UP | UP |
Shoes | UP | UP | Lawn & Garden | DOWN | UP |
HBC | UP | UP | Home Furniture | UP | UP |
Dining Out | UP | UP | Decorative Home Furnishings | UP | UP |
Sporting Goods | UP | UP | Linens/Bedding/Draperies | UP | UP |
Source: BIGresearch, October 2006 |
This information is contained in BIGresearch's October Executive Briefing, found here.