Moscow, 23 April: The negative changes in the Russian economy have affected the vast majority of Russians and have forced them to economize on everything, starting from foodstuffs and telephone conversations and ending with holidays and clothes; the data of research company Nielsen is evidence of this, which is monitoring the trends on Russia's consumer market in the conditions of continuous changes in the economy.

According to the research data, which was conducted from 19 March to 2 April, at the present time 92 per cent of Russians believe that the country is experiencing a period of recession (six months ago the figure was 49 per cent). One in three of them (29 per cent) believes that Russia will get out of the crisis in the next 12 months.

Russians believe that the main threat to their prosperity is the loss of their job. This is the main source of concern for 23 per cent of those polled; 84 per cent of respondents assess their prospects on the job market as "bad" or "not too good". Six months ago there were almost twice as few pessimists - 44 per cent of those polled.

The recession has forced Russians to re-evaluate their "assets" and reconsider their purchasing behaviour. In October 2008, 60 per cent said that everything was good with their personal finances and 7 per cent that it was simply excellent. Today one in two (52 per cent) Russian consumers assesses their financial state as bad or not too good.

Seven per cent of participants of the online-research said that they do not have spare funds after their basic expenses for their residence and paying for utilities, which is less than the world average (13 per cent). But the trend does not inspire optimism: six months ago, only 2 per cent of those polled in the Russian Federation complained of the lack of spare funds.

As the Nielsen report finds, 44 per cent of Russians polled say that they have changed to purchase cheaper foodstuffs which is twice as many as in October 2008 (20 per cent). One in three (33 per cent) of those polled has now begun to economize on telephone calls, which is three times more than six months ago.

Around 77 per cent of participants of the Nielsen research in Russia plan, when the crisis ends, to retain the acquired habits of economizing, and 23 per cent of those polled say that they will return with pleasure to their previous level of expenditure and will not economize like they are forced to do today.

Russian consumers like to economize on clothes, holidays, telephone communication and foodstuffs least of all. If today 44 per cent report that they have changed to cheaper brands of foodstuffs and other day-to-day goods, then only 14 per cent of those polled are intending to retain the habit. According to data from March 2009, 32 per cent are economizing on their yearly holiday but after the crisis only 7 per cent of respondents are planning to economize on this item. If today 65 per cent of participants have begun to buy fewer clothes, after the crisis only 13 per cent of those polled are ready to keep such a pragmatic habit.

According to data from the Nielsen global online-research, the consumer confidence index in Russia in spring this year for the first time fell lower that the world average level, totalling only 75 points. The consumer confidence index has dropped by 29 points in comparison with October 2008m which has not been observed in a single country in the last two waves of research.

The global consumer confidence index is calculated by Nielsen twice a year on the basis of the online consumer poll data, proceeding from such indicators as consumer confidence in job placement prospects, the assessment by them of the state of their personal finances and their readiness to buy new goods. During the last wave of research Nielsen polled more than 25,000 regular Internet users in 50 countries, including Russia.