Forsa poll: "How Germany shops"

Messe Frankfurt publishes study on buying behaviour in Germany

According to a new poll carried out by the forsa market-research company[1] on behalf of Messe Frankfurt, four findings are relevant with a view to furnishing and decorative articles.

1. Many Germans enjoy making spontaneous purchases. 58 percent of respondents said they had spent money spontaneously at least once in the last year. On the list of the most popular purchases, furnishings take third place ahead of entertainment electronics, CDs, DVDs and jewellery. Only clothing and books are purchased spontaneously more often.

2. The pleasure of consumption is reflected not only by spontaneous purchases but also by the way Christmas bonuses are used. Six out of ten consumers who receive this additional income spent it almost immediately. In this case, furnishings hold fifth place in the leading group (22 percent) with Christmas bonuses only being spent more frequently on clothing, books, foodstuffs and semi-luxuries and entertainment electronics.

3. More than two thirds of consumers spent more or a similar amount on furnishings and decorative articles in 2011 compared with the previous year.

4. Moreover, furnishings and decorative articles are resistant to crises. Among those who had to cut down on their expenditures, only a fifth of those polled said they had gone without purchasing such products last year.

Excerpts from the ‘How Germany shops’ study were published during Ambiente, the world’s leading trade fair for the consumer-goods sector, earlier this year.
They can now be downloaded here.

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[1] 1,007 people aged 18+ were polled from 11 to 13 January 2012. Client: Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH