Trend Bites [a taste of what's going on out there for the consumer to experience]

Are you and Optimist or Pessimist when it comes to the economy? See how you compare to the rest of America. [Issue 14; March, 2009]

In order to better understand the consumers’ perspectives on the economy , we have defined two groups that are either optimists or pessimists.The optimists believe the economy will improve over the next six months or they think it will remain as "average", "good", or "excellent". Pessimists, on the other hand, believe the economic condition will get worse over the next six months or they think it will remain as "poor". Pessimists make up over half (61%) of the population, while optimists represent just under one-third (30%) of the population (see below).

Consumers’ View of Current Economic Condition vs. Anticipated Economic Condition 6 Months from Now (Among All Consumers)
Anticipated Economic Condition 6 Months From Now		View of Current Economic Condition
		Average, Good, or Excellent	Fair	Poor	*Total*
	Better	6%	3%	9%	17%
	About the same	12%	9%	20%	41%
	Worse	3%	5%	33%	41%
	*Total*	21%	17%	62%	100%
Pessimists are highlighted in green and optimists are highlighted in red

There are differences in the demographic make-up of pessimists and optimists. Significantly more men than women have a positive outlook on the economy (54% and 47%, respectively). Pessimists also tend to be older than optimists, and as one would expect, have higher household incomes, on average. In addition, significantly more optimists than pessimists live in the East (27% and 17%, respectively).

Demographics of Optimists and Pessimists
Demographics		Optimists	Pessimists
Gender	Male*	54%	48%
Gender	Female*	47%	52%
Age	18-24*	13%	6%
	25-34*	22%	14%
	35-44	19%	20%
	45-54	19%	23%
	55-64	14%	18%
	65+*	13%	20%
Average Age*		43.9	49.3
Household Income	Less than $35k*	27%	32%
	$35k - $49.9k	20%	19%
	$50k - $74.9k	22%	21%
	$75k - $99.9k	16%	13%
	$100k+	16%	14%
Average Household Income*		$70,774	$60,468
Presence of Children Under 18 in Household	Yes	27%	28%
Presence of Children Under 18 in Household	No	73%	72%
Region	East*	27%	17%
	Midwest	26%	30%
	South	28%	33%
	West	19%	21%

Home > Trendbites > >Are you and Optimist or Pessimist when it comes to the economy? See how you compare to the rest of America. [Issue 14; March, 2009]