Technology spending might not suffer along with the rest of the economy, a new study by The Consumer Electronics Association and CNET shows. The CEA-CNET Consumer Sentiment Indexes, launched today, map consumer sentiment about technology and the broader economy.
Many consumers spent their economic stimulus checks on items like computers, televisions and wireless phones, which they now view as necessities rather than luxuries, CEA economist Shawn DuBravac says. So even though the public has felt pessimistic about the economy over the last 19 months, its expectations for technology spending rose in June and July.
The long-established University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Indexes, which are already consulted by many market watchers, ask more general questions than the CEA-CNET indexes and don’t provide unique data about sentiments toward technology, according to DuBravac.
Data for the CEA-CNET indexes, based on monthly surveys of 1,000 citizens weighted to reflect the larger U.S. population, will be published on the fourth Tuesday of every month.
I interviewed DuBravac and CNET director of research Claudia Haase at the CNET headquarters in New York.
—Kelsey Blodget, Associate Producer
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