Consumer confidence in India in the third quarter of 2012 has gone down compared to last year and 62% of them believe the country is going through an economic recession this quarter, according to provider of information and insights Nielsen.
Yet, Indians, along with Indonesians, continue to be the most upbeat globally, according to Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index.
The levels of optimism reported by Indian respondents this quarter are three points lower than the third quarter in 2011, where India was leading the global sentiment at 121 points, Neilsen said in a statement.
"More than three in five online respondents (62%) said they believe India is going through an economic recession this quarter," it added.
In the same quarter last year, only 44% of the respondents had felt India was going through an economic recession.
In the third quarter of 2012, India and Indonesia (119) reported the highest index scores globally, followed by Philippines (118), it added.
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Commenting on the findings, Nielsen India Region President Piyush Mathur said, "While the second quarter of the year indicated a growing anxiousness amongst Indian consumers, the third quarter echoes that sentiment across key parameters for the Indian consumer today."
Although rising inflation combined with other economic and personal pressures have taken a toll on consumer confidence, the Indian consumer seems to have reconciled with the challenges, he added.
"In a typically resilient fashion, they have adopted various strategies to counter inflation through a much keener effort to seek better deals at the point of sale and by timing bigger ticket purchases," Mathur said.
According to the latest findings, 77% of online respondents in India are optimistic about their employment, which is down from 81% compared to the same quarter last year, but consistent with the second quarter of 2012.
"Globally, Indian online consumers (77%), followed by online consumers in Philippines (72%) and Thailand (72%), are the most optimistic about their job prospects in the next twelve months," Neilsen said.
Job security (22%) and state of the economy (14%) continue to be the biggest concerns for Indian respondents, the Nielsen survey said.
The survey was conducted between August 10 and September 7, 2012, polling more than 29,000 online consumers in 58 countries throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America.
According to the survey, less number of Indians consider it a good time to buy things they want and need at 49%, down from 54% in the same quarter last year.
More number of Indian consumers have changed their spending habits to save on household expenses with 79% online respondents admitting to such taking up such steps, up from 76% in the same quarter last year.