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More Consumers Plan to Increase Restaurant Spending; Fewer Intend Cuts
The latest consumer spending survey from ChangeWave, industry research expert, found an uptick in consumer restaurant spending for the fourth month in a row. Among consumers polled in December 2009, 14 percent said that they will likely be spending more at restaurants going forward. 
While this percentage has not changed in the past few months, it is significantly higher than it was at the height of the recession in February of 2009, when just 5 percent said they would be spending more at restaurants in the near future.
Perhaps even more promising is the fact only 30 percent of those polled in the December survey said that they would likely be cutting back on their restaurant spending. This percentage has been decreasing steadily since early last year and was two percentage points lower in December than in November.
ChangeWave’s research also indicates that some of the consumers who are still attempting to cut back at restaurants are not actually doing so. A quarter of consumers polled in December said that they had spent more on dining out in the previous three months than they had intended to, while just a fifth (20 percent) said their spending ended up being lower than what they had planned. In addition, 21 percent of consumers said they expected to dine out more frequently in the upcoming three months. Just 12 percent of consumers said the same in November.
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This information is provided by Technomic, considered an industry expert for over 40 years. Information can be segment-specific and it is important that operators understand the segment to which they belong in order to determine how this particular data may or may not impact their own operation.
Source: Technomic, Consumer Food Trends, February 2010
