Press release

Home > About us > News > Press releases > Archive > Press release

Despairing Over Economy and Lack of Leadership, Americans Spend Vast Amounts on Entertainment and Vacations

U.S. Economic Pessimism Shared with European Findings

View the Australian Release | View the UK Release

Seattle - Dec. 14, 2005 - Powered by global market research solutions provider GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.), the latest GMI Poll, a survey of 17,502 online consumers across 18 countries, finds that Americans rate the government’s overall leadership as dismal at best, and are similarly despairing in their perceptions of how the current economy is faring despite strong third-quarter growth. Against this backdrop is the GMI Poll finding that 80% of Americans will spend their disposable income on vacations and entertainment, beating out hobbies, donations, and luxury items.

First, the bleak projections from GMI’s State of the Nation Poll:

Outlook

• Only 18% of American respondents believe the U.S. government is steering the country in a positive direction
• 60% of them see the country moving in a ‘somewhat’ or ‘very negative’ direction
• Over 40% of American respondents think conditions in this country will ‘somewhat’ or ‘strongly’ deteriorate. Worldwide, France and Germany prove most negative towards their country’s condition, at 58% and 52%, respectively

Economy

• Nearly 60% of Americans chose ‘somewhat’ or ‘very negative’ when asked about the country’s current economic situation. France, Italy and Germany weigh in even gloomier, at 77%, 71%, and 68% negative in regard to their national economic condition

Education

• 59% of U.S. respondents feel that the government could place greater importance on primary education

Energy

• 74% of Americans believe the government is not investing enough in alternative energy sources

Immigration

• The majority of Americans (62%) believe that recent immigration has had a negative impact on the country

Why so Pessimistic ?

Respondents’ pessimistic outlook could be due to lingering effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which stymied commerce and business, catapulted energy prices, and bolstered inflation fears, as well as the economic and psychological toll the war on Iraq has taken in this country. GMI Poll’s State of the Nation numbers are in sharp contrast to a healthy economic backdrop nationwide. The U.S. saw a robust third-quarter 4.3 percent growth in the economy and the biggest one-month gain in sales of new single-family homes in November (13 percent), according to the Commerce Department.

Similarly, with only 18 percent of Americans confident in this country’s leadership, the GMI Poll findings underscore the sharp drop in nationwide presidential approval ratings. Even with good news on the economy, President Bush’s approval ratings have plummeted to forty-two percent compared with a post-9/11 approval rating of 86 percent.

The Culture of Escapism

Faced with lack of confidence in where our nation is going, Americans seek relief by using their disposable income. Although Americans will spend the vast majority of disposable income on vacations and entertainment, they will also invest in Hobbies (28 percent), Luxury Items (13 percent) and Donations (9 percent). In fact, the U.S. was only slightly more charitable than the overall total of 8 percent going to donations worldwide.

Additional Charts

	In light of the recent global natural disasters, have you done more to be prepared in the event of a major disaster (e.g., earthquake, hurricane, long-term power outage)?
	Which consumer electronics technology do you expect will impact your lifestyle the most in the coming year?
	Please tell us what you will spend most of your disposable income on in the next year:
	Please tell us if you think conditions in your country will improve or deteriorate in 2006:
	In your opinion, what is the current economic situation in your country?

About GMI Poll

GMI Poll quickly and accurately gathers international opinions about topical issues and critical global events, with real-time results available in as little as 24 hours. GMI Poll is the only survey that polls global opinions in real time, online, and with statistically accurate results.

About GMI

GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) is the only company that provides comprehensive integrated solutions for global market intelligence for both market research firms and corporate market research departments at Global 2000 companies. Solutions include Net-MR®, a suite of software tools to manage and automate research throughout the project lifecycle, desktop analysis tools, 24x7x365 service bureau capabilities, and one of the world’s largest, highly profiled, double opt-in managed panels, spanning across 200 countries. In addition, GMI offers high-value, real-time enterprise feedback solutions for customer, partner and employee programs. Founded in 1999 with world headquartersin Seattle, Wash., GMI has operations on five continents.