The Optimistic Kiwi

The study of 8000 mostly professionals across New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in December 2001 reveals that, of the eight nationalities researched, New Zealanders are the least likely to think they were about to enter world recession.
“While 45 percent of the New Zealanders surveyed felt we are about to enter world recession, 63 percent of Australians felt that way,” says Jocelyn Hong, group marketing director, ACNielsen New Zealand. “Pessimism amongst Asian populations was even more marked: over 80 percent of respondents in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore felt they were entering world recession.”
Overall, respondents felt the recession would be long term. Only 48 percent felt the recovery would occur by the end of 2002. The large Chinese and Japanese markets were the most pessimistic as to when the recovery would occur with just 35 percent and 22 percent expecting recovery to occur by the end of 2002.
The ACNielsen survey has sobering implications for consumer purchasing in Asia but only 18 percent of New Zealanders surveyed have deferred making major purchasing decisions in the past six months and 24 percent plan to defer buying major purchases in the next six months.