In 2018 TLF Research launched a new measure of consumer sentiment on our online panel, modelled on the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment, and we’ve tracking it quarterly ever since. You can find out more about the Index in this article from our latest issue of Customer Insight Magazine.

This report shows the enormous impact of the pandemic on consumers’ confidence, particularly in the wider economy.

The key headlines from the report include:

• Consumers believe that now is a bad time to spend money, and that the economy will suffer in the short term

• They are less pessimistic about the longer term

• They are less pessimistic about their own financial position than the wider economy

• Wales, the South West, and Northern England show lower confidence than other regions

• The confidence of 25-44 years olds has been less affected than other age groups

• 18-24s have experienced the biggest drop in confidence about their own financial situation