PORT WASHINGTON N.Y. The holiday season, which starts in earnest this week, may not get any merrier for restaurants.
Anew study reveals that consumers are still hesitant to spend during this time of year, when independent and chain restaurants alike typically benefit from family gatherings and holiday shopping trips.
The survey, released Wednesday by market research firm The NPD Group Inc., also shows that consumers still plan to reduce spending on dining out. Based on about 800 men and women 18 years or older who were surveyed in mid-November, the highest number of respondents, or 57 percent, said that when cutting costs they would look to reduce spending on dining out above all else. Other planned cutbacks would come from spending on apparel and furniture, NPD reported.
Consumers still feel uncertain and skeptical about the economy, despite previous calls for a possible rebound, at least in confidence, after the presidential election, NPD said. NPD conducts its spending survey each month. In the November study, 91 percent of respondents said they believed the economy was either in a recession or headed for one. In April, 84 percent of respondents said they had felt that way.
“Off hand that 7-percent increase may not sound like a lot,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at The NPD Group, “but when you turn the spending faucet of 14 million people off, that 7 percent from April to November represents trillions of dollars.”
Respondents also said that retailers’ coupons and discounts haven’t swayed them into spending more.
As unemployment continues to rise, consumers surveyed by NPD said they are growing more concerned about their jobs. In the July survey, 25 percent of respondents said they were not concerned about their jobs, but in the November survey, only 19 percent said they were not concerned.
“This is a number I watch very closely,” Cohen said. “I think it is the best indication of consumer behavior, and now, what with the stock market, the political market, the media market and now, the job market, we are seeing an all time low here.”