European consumers show differing ways of saving during the crisis
Findings of the GfK survey "Day-to-day saving in Europe”
Nuremberg, February 8, 2010 – The GfK Association has investigated consumer saving behavior against the backdrop of the current economic crisis. While consumers in Germany, the UK, France and Austria are trying to reduce their expenditure in many areas, day-to-day saving is currently not such an urgent concern for survey respondents in Spain and Poland. In these two countries, almost one in three of those questioned said they were doing nothing at all to reduce their household budget.
Different countries, different saving measures
More than four in ten consumers in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria are trying to buy food and drink products as cheaply as possible. In contrast, more Russian and Italian respondents said they were making cuts in their spending on clothes and shoes (49% and 43% respectively). Eating out at a pub or restaurant less often is another way of limiting daily expenses: in particular, German (48%), French (45%), Austrian (41%) and Italian (42%)citizens are saving money in this area.
Consumers in Russia and Germany especially (45% and 42% respectively) are currently trying to postpone larger purchases such as cars or washing machines. Doing without a visit to the pub or a café also saves money: four in ten French and German respondents claimed they were reducing their daily expenditure in this way. Likewise, respondents in France and Germany in particular are forgoing outings to the cinema or a concert as a means of keeping household expenses down. And just over one in three consumers in Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands and the UK are trying to take less expensive holidays.
Just under 40% of British and 27% of Dutch respondents answered that they were saving money thanks to lower energy costs for heating and air conditioning. Finally, purchasing rail and flight tickets as cheaply as possible is a way for more than one in four people in the UK, Germany and Austria to reduce their outgoings.
The following list of the European top 3 saving methods is compiled by asking consumers which of the possibilities presented is their initial preference for saving money:
- Buying food and drink products as cheaply as possible
- Postponing larger purchases, for example cars or washing machines
- Visiting cafés, pubs and bars less frequently
Women are often more thrifty than men
Overall, women in Europe need to save more than men: in particular, they purchase food and drinks as cheaply as possible (42% against 34%), spend less on clothes and shoes (43% against 36%) and buy newspapers and magazines less often (24% against 18%).
European middle-class female homemakers are especially saving money on food and drink (48%), limiting their expenditure on clothes and shoes (47%) and visiting cafés (43%), restaurants (46%) and the cinema (45%) less often. In contrast, older female middle-class consumers in Europe need to save less: this consumer group is only trying to appreciably curb spending in the areas of food and drink (37%) and shoes and clothes (40%).
The survey
The presented findings are taken from the "European Consumer Study 2010”. As part of this study, the GfK Association commissioned a survey of around 10,200 consumers in nine European countries (Germany, France, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Poland and Russia) in winter 2009. The survey is representative of 439 million private consumers aged over 14/15 in Europe, and highlights fundamental trends in private consumption in these nine European countries.
Further information on this survey
Ronald Frank, GfK Association
tel. +49 911 395-3004
email: ronald.frank@gfk-verein-org
Press Release