 "Consumer confidence in India highest since Q4 of 2012: Nielsen")
Consumer confidence score in India in the ongoing fiscal's first quarter was at 121, against 115 in the previous quarter.
India retains its position as the second most-optimistic country in the survey. Indonesia leads the global index with 124 points and the Philippines is in third place with 116 points.
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"Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism," Nielsen said in a statement.
As per the survey, sixty-eight per cent of urban respondents in India feel the country is going through a recessionary phase and within this more than half (54 per cent) say the country will be out of this recessionary phase in the next 12 months.
Commenting on the survey findings, Nielsen India President Piyush Mathur said: "Consumers are reconciled to the negative economic conditions and despite the challenge of inflation, are hoping for a better fiscal year. They are optimistic that overall sentiment and investment will pick-up gradually."
The Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions, established in 2005, measures consumer confidence, major concerns, and spending intentions among more than 30,000 respondents with Internet access in 60 countries.
In the latest round of the survey, conducted in February 17 - March 7, 2014 period, consumer confidence increased in 60 per cent of the markets measured by Nielsen, up from 43 per cent in the previous quarter (Q4 of 2013).
Nearly three-fourths (74 per cent) of respondents in India are optimistic about job prospects over the next 12 months and the sentiment is up by 4 percentage points from the last quarter.
"Overall discretionary spending is higher than the last four quarters and there is a renewed focus on savings for the long term. Consumers are also anticipating the outcome of the elections and the impact will reflect in subsequent months," Mathur added.
More than half (54 per cent) of online respondents polled indicated that this is a good time to buy things they want and need. The intention of online respondents investing spare cash in savings is up by six percentage points to 68 per cent from last quarter.
Nearly half of those polled (49 per cent) are looking to invest in new technology products and buy new clothes (49 per cent). More than a third (32 per cent) indicated they would invest in a retirement fund, a 9 percentage-point increase from last quarter (23 per cent in Q4 of 2013).
About 36 per cent intend to invest in the stock market and in mutual funds, up from 29 per cent in last quarter.