Purchasing power: Europe remains divided

November 13, 2008 – Europeans have an average of EUR 12,500 per head to spend on consumer goods in 2008. more >>

GfK Group – growth continues in Q3, despite financial market crisis

Nuremberg, November 11, 2008 – The GfK Group recorded satisfactory results in the third quarter of 2008, despite the global financial market crisis. The pleasing sales growth for the Group highlights the fact that the market research sector is more resilient to crisis than other sectors. GfK’s business model, which focuses on three sectors, Custom Research, Retail and Technology, and Media, facilitates growth while ensuring risk diversification. more >>

Consumer climate defies financial crisis

October 28, 2008 – In spite of the financial crisis and some turbulent times on the stock markets, the consumer climate for October appeared to stabilize at a low level. By contrast, economic expectations and the propensity to buy both fell. The indicator for November is therefore forecasting 1.9 points after a revised value of 1.8 points for October. more >>

Smokers retreat as non-smokers advance

October 24, 2008 – German consumers have widely differing reactions to the national smoking ban in the F&B sector, which is now in force in all German states. As a result, regular smokers are frequenting pubs, clubs, cafés and restaurants much less than before, but of course this decline in customers is less evident for non-smokers. more >>

How do Slovaks perceive the financial crisis?

Bratislava – October 23, 2008 – the expanding global financial crisis is becoming a subject of interest for increasing portion of the Slovak population as only 5% of the polled respondents say it is irrelevant to them. At the same time, half of all people in Slovakia admit slight concerns in relation to the news about the crisis in the USA and its recent expansion to Europe. Another third of the Slovak population feels deep concerns based on the news. Despite these figures, Slovaks tend to be slightly optimistic when it comes to potential impact of the crisis on the Slovak economy. These are some of the findings of a survey conducted recently by GfK Slovakia on a sample comprising 500 respondents. more >>