Likely Renewal of Concern About Terrorism for World’s Consumers

By June 2006, only 14 percent of consumers cited a terrorist attack their major concern. In Asia Pacific, Australians, Singaporeans and Indians were among the most concerned.

Travellers around the world planning to travel between the US and UK were inconvenienced by unexpected flight delays and the instigation by the British government of more stringent security measures subsequent to yesterday’s thwarting of the terrorist airline plot. Yet it's all worth it for the safety of the world’s consumers, who did not consider the threat of terrorism a major concern when surveyed two months ago.

According to the latest ACNielsen Global Consumer Opinion Survey* which polled over 22,780 consumers in 40 markets online in late May and early June, when asked about their major concerns in the next six months, only 14 percent cited a terrorist attack, and only six percent said terrorism was their biggest concern of all.  This compares to 16 percent when the survey was conducted in November 2005 and 12 percent in June 2005.

Across all regions, North America had the most people concerned about terrorism, with 19 percent citing it as a concern, followed by Europe with 15 percent and Asia Pacific with eight percent. In Hong Kong only 2 percent of people ranked terrorism their major concern which compares to 9 percent in last November, 3 percent a year ago and 4 percent in November 2004.

Out of the 40 markets surveyed, Denmark, Switzerland and Turkey had the most people citing terrorism as their major concern. One fifth of the British and Americans also expressed similar concern and took the 4th and 5th positions on the top 10 list. These five countries also have also made up the top five with the most people ranking terrorism as their biggest concern of all.

The ACNielsen survey also found some markets not as concerned about terrorism as the others. Among them were people in Korea (0%), Hungary (1%), Vietnam (1%) and Taiwan (1%). Hong Kong people are among the least concerned about terrorism. In fact most countries in Asia Pacific except for India, Australia and Singapore were among the less concerned.

Unlike concerns for the economy, health and personal finance, terrorism has not been a constant concern for most consumers the world over. As indicated in previous rounds of the ACNielsen Global Consumer Opinion Survey, consumers’ concern about terrorist attacks is more incident-driven and usually peaks in the immediate aftermath of an attack," said Mr Travyn Rhall, Managing Director, ACNielsen Customised Research, Asia Pacific.

In the UK and the US, where the most serious terrorist alert was issued in the years since 9/11, people’s concern about terror attacks has not been particularly high. Among consumers in the U.K. the threat of a terror attack has come and gone, and along with the U.S. it is still not considered as big a concern relative to other concerns like the economy and personal finance etc.  

"The terrorist alert issued by the US and British governments yesterday will go to the top of the mind for many consumers in markets where the concern about terrorism has been high and they will start to adjust their consumption habits fairly quickly.  This is likely to have a short term impact on their travel purchasing and other related purchasing until they think the threat has dissipated," Rhall added.

Markets Covered

Australia (Aus), Austria (AT), Belgium (Bel), Canada (Can), Denmark (Den), Finland (Fin), France (Fra),  Germany (Ger), Greece (Gre), Hong Kong (HK), India (Ind), Indonesia (Indo), Ireland (Ire), Italy (Ita), Japan (Jap), Korea (Kor), Malaysia (Mal), Netherlands (NL), New Zealand (NZ), Norway (Nor), Philippines (PH), Poland (Pol), Portugal (Por), Russia (Rus), Singapore (SG), South Africa (SA), Spain (Spa), Sweden (Swe), Switzerland (Swi), Taiwan (TW), Thailand (TH), Turkey (TR), United Kingdom (UK), United States (US), Czech Republic (Cze), Hungary (Hun), Vietnam (Vnm) and the Baltics (Bal).

About ACNielsen

ACNielsen, a VNU business, is the world’s leading marketing information provider.  Offering services in more than 100 markets, the unit provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behavior.  Clients rely on ACNielsen’s market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns.  To learn more, visit www.acnielsen.com.

*ACNielsen Consumer Opinion Survey was first started in 2002 in Asia Pacific. The survey was subsequently expanded to become a global survey in 2004 and gauge consumer opinion in 40+ markets in 2006.