L’Observatoire Cetelem – Consumption

The low-cost world is nothing new to L’Observatoire Cetelem. Back in 2009, we were one of the first publications to report on the Dacia craze and its various effects. Then, in 2010, we assessed its impact against the backdrop of the subprime crisis.

Today, it is hard to ignore the circular economy. Taken separately, these two words do not seem at all ambiguous, but when combined they become much more complex, and it is clear that the concept is gaining pace. The dazzling success of peer-to-peer platforms and the decision by certain brands to invest in the circular economy for the long-term now make its growth both inevitable and ineluctable.

Unpredictability is one of the main characteristics of the current health crisis, but the same tends not to be true of the opinions of Europeans, as measured each year by the Observatoire Cetelem Barometer. Given what they are going through and all they have had to endure for more than a year now, it is unsurprising that their mood has worsened. This gloom has naturally had an impact on the economy, with spending and saving following the principle of communicating vessels:the former has fallen while the latter has risen. This has been an unprecedented year, as this Observatoire Cetelem Barometer will attest.

What is the mood among Europeans? It is neither better nor worse than last year. There is still a tendency for people to view their personal circumstances more favourably. Something else that hasn’t changed is the direct impact that persistent economic tensions are having on consumer confidence and on saving and consumption intentions.

If 2018 saw the general mood of Europeans improve significantly, 2019 seems to confirms this dynamic overall. But while Europeans consider their personal circumstances to have further improved, their view on the situation in their country has remained more or less unchanged. However, this stability is only relative and could well be impacted by a slowdown in growth that is just starting to be felt and an increasingly febrile economic, political and social climate.

With the overall results of the survey to gauge both the self-confidence of consumers and their confidence in their country looking better than they have for years, the answers given by Europe’s Millennials suggest that shops have a bright future…

In economics, confidence is often described as essential if growth is to be achieved. Indeed, household spending and business investment hinges on this confidence. Generally speaking, uncertainty causes economic stakeholders to play a waiting game and ultimately slows down the economy. In the majority of European countries, this confidence seemed to shrink as the economic crisis rumbled on. The question of how to revive it is therefore a crucial one. L’Observatoire Cetelem 2017 focuses on demonstrating that all is not lost, despite confidence being low in Europe. In fact, far from it…

The word senior is used fairly indiscriminately. Depending on the profession and generation of the person using the term, the age of the individual it designates can vary immensely.