PH consumers most bullish after Indians, Americans

FILIPINO consumers emerged as among the most bullish in the world in the third quarter of 2015, coming in only behind consumers in economic powerhouses India and the US, according to the latest study of Nielsen.

The Philippines came in third in the global ranking of the market research firm despite posting a five-point quarter-on-quarter decline in its consumer confidence index to 117.

At the same time, Nielsen revealed that Southeast Asian economies dominated the top 10 global consumer confidence ranking owing the positive sentiment across the region.

“The country’s robust economy continues to keep the consumers’ confidence in the Philippines bullish,” Nielsen Philippines managing director Stuart Jamieson said in a statement.

“The growing recessionary sentiments across other Southeast Asia markets failed to dampen the optimism, only reflecting the same level of positive sentiment at 80 percent when it comes to the state of their personal finances and 75 percent positive outlook on local job prospects in the next 12 months,” he added. “These figures are well above the global averages of 58 percent and 50 percent, respectively.”

Indians were the world’s most confident consumers with an index of 131, while US consumers came in second at 119.

On an annual basis, however, Filipino consumers were more confident in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period last year when the index stood at only 115.

Similar with the consumers in Southeast Asia, Filipino consumers continued to give financial security top priority.

Sixty-seven percent of Filipinos put their spare cash into savings, while 30 percent invest in shares of stock or mutual funds.

Discretionary purchases also ranked high on the spending priorities of local consumers, including spending on new clothes, and holidays and vacations.

“Quarter after quarter, consumers are consistent in their desire to build a nest egg for the future,” Jamieson said. “After they’ve channeled money in savings or investments, consumers look into spending on holidays, new clothes, home improvements, technology and out of home entertainment.”