Deloitte study: almost half of Romanians plan to increase their spending for the holidays

Miercuri, 12 noiembrie 2008, 14:07 English | Top News

Almost half of Romanians plan to spend more than last year during the winter holidays this year and their behavior shifts the focus from an impulsive consumption to a prudent one, due to the negative economic expectations, a Deloitte study reveals, conducted for 16 European countries, US and South Africa. In the West, consumers declared that they will buy less gifts but in the East, especially in Romania, the number of gifts will increase. Romanians wish to receive cloths and shoes, while in other Western countries people would be happy to receive a book.

45% of the surveyed Romanians expect an economic crisis in 2009. Even so, only some of them believe that they purchase power will drop as compared to last year. In a worse case scenario, 45% of Romanians plan to increase their spending for this winter holidays.

While 60% of the Europeans expect and economic decline and with it a decline in the purchasing power, 40% of them wish to limit their spending for this years' winter holidays. Consumers are worried that Western Europe is focused on spending less while Eastern Europe is focused on spending more because the latter did not feel the full impact of the current economic crisis.

For the first time in the history of the study, most Europeans plan to limit their spending, as one of two respondents plan to set up a budget for holidays spending. Romanians are more cautious also and 48% declared that they will set up a limited budget.