ACNielsen: Only 14 pct of consumers cite terrorist attack as major concern

Only 14 percent of the customers in 40 markets cited a terrorist attack as their major concern in the next six months, and only six percent said terrorism was their biggest concern of all, according to the latest ACNielsen Global Consumer Opinion Survey.

It stood at 16 percent when the survey was conducted in November 2005 and 12 percent in June 2005, according to a press release from ACNielsen on Friday.

The survey polled over 22,780 consumers in 40 markets on-line in late May and early June this year.

Across all regions, North America had the most people concerned about terrorism, with 19 percent citing it as a concern, followed by Europe with 15 percent and Asia Pacific with 8 percent.

In Hong Kong, only 2 percent of people ranked terrorism as their major concern comparing with 9 percent last November, 3 percent a year ago and 4 percent in November 2004.

Out of the 40 markets surveyed, Denmark, Switzerland and Turkey had the most people citing terrorism as their major concern. One fifth of the British and Americans also expressed similar concern and took the 4th and 5th positions on the top 10 list.

Unlike concerns for the economy, health and personal finance, terrorism has not been a constant concern for most consumers all over the world.

As indicated in previous rounds of the ACNielsen Global Consumer Opinion Survey, consumers' concern about terrorist attacks is more incident-driven and usually peaks in the immediate aftermath of an attack, said Kenneth Chan, associate director, ACNielsen Customized Research, Hong Kong.

British police in London thwarted a major terrorist plot to blow up airplanes flying from Britain to the United States on Thursday.

"The terrorist alert issued by the United States and British governments on Thursday will go to the top of the mind for many consumers in markets where the concern about terrorism has been high and they will start to adjust their consumption habits fairly quickly. This is likely to have a short-term impact on their travel purchasing and other related purchasing until they think the threat has dissipated," Chan added.

ACNielsen, a VNU business, is one of the world's leading marketing information providers which offers services in more than 100 markets.

Source: Xinhua