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Over 80% of New Zealanders feel impacted by fuel price rises
The most common ways to cope: combining trips and using vehicles less
13 March 2006
Auckland
Increasing fuel price has become a widespread concern in New Zealand, with nine out of ten Kiwis having to maintain a vehicle, and over 80 percent of them expressing concerns about the impact of the escalating fuel price, a recent study by research company ACNielsen has found.
The most recent ACNielsen Online Consumer Confidence survey, conducted in November 2005, polled over 23,000 people in 42 countries over the world. Over 500 New Zealanders participated in this online survey.
Up to 90 percent of New Zealanders responding to the survey have a vehicle for which they must purchase fuel. When asked whether increases in fuel prices had affected them in any way, nearly 20 percent of those having a vehicle claimed they were impacted a lot, and more than 60 percent said they had been affected somewhat.
Kiwis have been compelled to adjust their driving habits in response to the concern over fuel price. Up to 60 percent of the fuel-buying Kiwis opted to try harder to combine trips, and over half of them (53 percent) chose to use their vehicles less. One fifth claimed they would cut down on non-essential living expenses because of the increasing fuel price.
“Fuel prices have become an indicator of consumer spending in some sense,“ said Steve Mitchell, Managing Director of ACNielsen New Zealand. “The impact of the increase in petrol prices on people’s lifestyles is real and will eventually affect people’s spending.”
Fifteen percent of the respondents said they would switch to public transport more in order to cope with rising petrol prices.
ACNielsen’s study indicated that rising fuel prices was a concern globally, and certainly so across the trans-tasman markets.
“We have seen a similar level of consumers’ concern about petrol prices in Australia”, Mitchell commented.
However the way Aussies reacted to the fuel price issue was different, said Mitchell.
As many as four in five (89 percent) Australians responding to ACNielsen’s survey have a vehicle for which they must buy fuel. Over half of Aussie fuel-buying consumers (57 percent) claim that they had been affected somewhat, and 27 percent claimed to have been affected a lot. More than 60 percent opted to use their vehicle less. Over half of them (57 percent) were trying harder to combine trips, and 29 percent were cutting down on non-essential living expenses.
The ACNielsen Online Consumer Confidence Survey, the largest twice-yearly global survey of its kind, is aimed to gauge consumers’ current confidence levels, spending habits/intentions and current major concerns. The most recent wave of the survey took place in November 2005 and polled over 23,500 consumers – regular Internet users – in 42 markets in Europe, North and Latin America, Asia-Pacific region, Africa (Republic of South Africa) and the Middle East (UAE).
About ACNielsen
ACNielsen, a VNU business, is the world's leading marketing information provider. Offering services in more than 100 countries, the unit provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behavior. Clients rely on ACNielsen's market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns. To learn more, visit www.acnielsen.com.
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