Consumer confidence toward tech spending bounces back

Consumer confidence toward tech spending and the overall economy both saw significant increases in December, according to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Indexes.

The CTA Index of Consumer Technology Expectations (ICTE), which measures consumer expectations about technology spending, jumped 11.3 points in December to 89.1.

“As predicted, consumer sentiment toward technology spending bounced back in December following a temporary deviation last month,” said Shawn DuBravac, Ph.D., chief economist, CTA. “We’ve seen a healthy appetite for tech over the course of the 2016 holiday season thanks to a strong performance for perennial strongholds. That includes strong sales of televisions over Black Friday Week and increasing interest in – even selling out of – emerging categories such as digital assistant devices, drones and VR headsets.

Over the course of the entire holiday season, CTA projected tech spending would increase 3.1 percent over last year – driven mostly by an increase in online and mobile spending.

Overall Economy

The CTA Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE), measuring consumer sentiment about the U.S. economy as a whole, increased another 4.5 points in December to reach 189.2, up significantly over this month last year.

“December saw another month of steady gains in consumer optimism toward the overall economy,” said DuBravac. “CTA’s sentiment reading reflects a steadily improving economy in 2017, with job and wage growth. The Federal Reserve’s recent decision to increase its benchmark interest rate was cited as ‘a vote of confidence in the economy’ and bodes well for the year ahead, despite headwinds and uncertainty that remain.”