10_18 Consumer Index still going strong
The local government elections have been this October’s flavour of the month, with the competition for offices marking its presence everywhere from the smallest villages to the capital city. In the week preceding the vote, election coverage dominated the media, and the streets were adorned with banners and posters promoting candidates for the city council, commune heads, mayors, and city presidents to be. Now, since the results have been announced, all of the parties have been looking for positives, trying to find some favourable aspects of their outcome, at the same time highlighting the competitors’ poor results, or even failures. Our most recent round of the Consumer Index survey concluded in the week preceding the elections, so the findings do not take into account the joys and disappointments of the followers of the political scene's various factions.
This month the TNS Consumer Index is still going strong. It’s "in the black”, at 5.4 points. However, we have noted a 2.4 drop compared with the record-breaking September outcome. So what has caused this change? For one, it is due to the perceptions of the country's economic situation, which have been more critical than in the previous month. Another, more substantial reason is the less favourable evaluation of the financial status of households (both now, as well as with regard to predictions for the coming year). Maybe the society's pre-election concerns have come into play, or maybe it’s the advent of autumn, and the anxieties brought about by the predicted increase in the cost of energy, natural gas, and petrol (which will cause prices of other products to rise as well)?
The upcoming month will show whether the new political situation had any impact on consumer moods. However, judging by the tone of voice of post-election commentaries, we might expect an improvement in moods, even if only a minor one.
Urszula Krassowska
Managing Director Kantar Public Poland