Consumer sentiment in Taiwan worsened slightly this year as concerns over rising crime, pollution and political instability clouded economic optimism, an ACNielsen survey said yesterday.
Around 38 percent of survey participants said the economic situation was unchanged from last year, while 45 percent believed the situation had worsened.
As for next year, 24 percent of respondents expected the economy to improve, 41 percent foresaw no difference from this year and 35 percent were pessimistic, it said.
Government statistics show the economy is recovering -- if slowly. The nation's economy is expected to grow 3.27 percent this year and 3.38 percent next year, compared with a contraction of 1.91 percent last year, the worst in 50 years, according to figures from the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
"While Taiwan is pulling out of a recession that began a year ago and consumers' negative sentiment toward the economy abated in August, consumers in general still feel uncertain about the economy," said Desmond Wang (王道恆), communications manager at ACNielsen Taiwan.
Consumers largely assess the economic situation to either be the same as or worse than the situation one year ago, Wang said.
Yang Hsiang-chun (楊湘泉), public relations deputy manager for Toyota retailer Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車) said, "The consumer has chosen to focus on smart buying rather than uncontrolled spending at a time when they feel the future is unpredictable."
Ironically, sales of Toyota vehicles in Taiwan rose 20.3 percent during the first 11 months from a year earlier, according to Yang. The company is expecting to sell 90,000 vehicles in Taiwan this year, with a market share of 24.65 percent, he said.
"To be honest, there's no obvious sign of a turnaround in the auto market so far. ... What we've seen is just a reflection of our marketing efforts, not economic fundamentals," Yang said.
The ACNielsen report also showed more consumers believe that their financial situation has deteriorated compared to a year ago. About 50 percent said their financial situation would be unchanged compared to last year, while 38 percent said it has worsened.
Pessimism over financial freedom may show why more people appear to be shopping at hypermarkets such as RT-Mart (大潤發), Carrefour (家樂福) and Makro (萬客隆), since they offer discount prices on a variety of selected products, an industry watcher said.
"Our customer numbers have increased by 10 percent each month over the past year and our sales have risen another 10 percent to NT$30 billion during the first 11 months of this year," said Fiona Wang (王彤芳), public relations manager for the French-Taiwanese venture RT-Mart.
"Our customer base is building and there is no reason to believe that spending will not follow," Wang said.
Yet the survey did show signs of optimism as 53 percent of those polled foresaw no major change in their personal financial situation for the next year and 26 percent expected improvement, with only 21 percent thinking they would be worse off.
The survey, conducted in August, polled 500 people by phone in Taiwan's three largest metropolitan areas: Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung.
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