Market Compass: Bulgarian Lifestyles 2010

March 2010 | 194 pages | ID: MCF147060D8EN
Market Compass

Abstracts

The seven Bulgarian consumer lifestyle groups, defined in the previous edition of the report, had a tough year of economic crisis to go through. The economy stalled after a decade of constant growth and for the first time in the past several years income of the employed did not change, compared to an average yearly increase of 15% before 2009. Few experienced loss of employment or salary reduction. Prices of consumer goods and services also did not change. From an economical point of view, individuals are in the same situation as a year ago, which objectively is not that bad. Psychologically, however, consumers do not feel that way because their expectations for the future changed. This report reveals how the economic crisis affected the seven lifestyle groups, the subsequent changes in consumption and behavior and examines the differences between the groups.

Use this report to…

1. Get an understanding of consumer behaviour and motivation of Bulgarian consumers
2. Consumption 2-year trends of various product categories
3. Map of Bulgarian consumers – 7 lifestyle groups
4. How the crisis affects consumption and motivation

Please note, when buying this report, you also receive the Bulgarian Lifestyle 2009.

Contents

1. GOALS OF THE REPORT

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

3. MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS OF BULGARIA

Major macroeconomic indicators
Income and consumption of the households
    From a socio-economic point of view, the crisis in Bulgaria created conditions that bring closer together the extremes in consumer behaviour

4. METHODOLOGY AND PARAMETERS OF THE RESEARCH

5. HOW DID THE CRISIS CHANGE CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR?

  What happened in 2009?
    The feeling of uncertainty and instability took away consumers’ ability to plan and live today on the basis of their expectations for the future
  What do consumers expect to happen in 2010?

6. SEGMENTATION

6.1 Active
  Consumer profile
  Change in consumer behaviour
    They preserve their relative share of Bulgarian society and their higher social status, however they become much more cautious in their market behaviour
  Household purchases
  Personal finance
  Food and beverages
    They lowered their consumption of food and beverages in quantity, but not in quality
  Personal purchases
  Personal care
  Free time
  Mobility and traveling
    They constrained long trips, but compensated by adding more overnight trips and long weekends
  Internet
  Media consumption
  Characteristic categories
6.2 Content
  Consumer profile
  Change in consumer behaviour
    They preserved their consumption profile and nearly all purchases increased, though not by much
  Household purchases
  Personal finance
  Food and beverages
  Personal purchases
  Personal care
  Free time
    They prefer to spend more time with their family
  Mobility and traveling
  Internet
  Media consumption
  Characteristic categories
    They form the highest share in the financial products related to additional deposits in pension funds and usage of automobile leasing
6.3 Indifferent
  Consumer profile
  Change in consumer behaviour
    They shopped on promotions less than any other segment, but they reacted to the crisis by looking for cheaper products and brands
  Household purchases
  Personal finance
    They take on more debt and use the opportunity to spend on bargains that appear due to the economic crisis
  Food and beverages
  Personal purchases
  Personal care
    They do not perceive visits to a doctor as a personal care activity
  Free time
  Mobility and traveling
  Internet
    An ever greater part of their lives naturally transfers to the Web
  Media consumption
  Characteristic categories
6.4 Passive
  Consumer profile
    They occupy a neutral position in relation to the three key factors, that divide Bulgarian society
  Change in consumer behaviour
  Household purchases
  Personal finance
  Food and beverages
  Personal purchases
  Personal care
  Free time
    Nature walks are a part of the general trend among all segments towards a more active and healthy way of life, In addition this activity is an affordable way to entertain or relax
  Mobility and traveling
  Internet
  Media consumption
  Characteristic categories
6.5 Positive
  Consumer profile
  Change in consumer behaviour
    Despite the unfavourable year for the Positive, their expectations for the next one are rather optimistic
  Household purchases
  Personal finance
  Food and beverages
  Personal purchases
  Personal care
  Free time
  Mobility and traveling
  Internet
  Media consumption
    The main source of information is television, of course, but preferences towards internet as an information source begin to emerge
  Characteristic categories
6.6 Confined
  Consumer profile
    They have low social status, they are the oldest segment and live predominantly in villages
  Change in consumer behaviour
  Household purchases
    The TV sets remains the most important household appliance and frequently it is the only source of information, entertainment and place for spending the excessive free time
  Personal finance
  Food and beverages
    Leading places in their brand portfolio of food and beverages are occupied by meat brands in the medium and lower price segments
  Personal purchases
  Personal care
  Free time
  Mobility and traveling
  Internet
  Media consumption
  Characteristic categories
    Medicines remain their main and most characteristic product category
6.7 Rejective
  Consumer profile
  Change in consumer behaviour
  Household purchases
  Personal finance
  Food and beverages
    They rarely eat in restaurants and eating out is rather incidental
  Personal purchases
  Personal care
  Free time
  Mobility and traveling
  Internet
  Media consumption
  Characteristic categories

7. APPENDIX