Consumer confidence remained relatively stable in August according to a Prosper Insights & Analytics report. While confidence is below the January high, it has tracked at a consistent level in 2014 and is nearly 4 points higher than August 2013. The report also found that while some consumers have become less practical in purchases, over half still focus on necessities. Planned holiday spending for back-to-school is estimated at $74.9 billion, with back-to-college spending expected to rise nearly 10% compared to last year.

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Consumer Snapshot
august 2014

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sentiment strategy
august 2014
Disclaimer: Prosper Business Development and its affiliated companies (“Prosper”) make no warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning: data gathered or obtained from any source; the present or
future methodology employed in producing the statistics; or the data and estimates represent only the opinion of Prosper and reliance thereon and use thereof shall be at the user’s own risk.
back-to-school

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sentiment
consumer confidence
sentiment remains relatively stable in August, with 41.5%
confident/very confident in chances for a strong economy,
off half a point from July
very confident/confident in chances for a strong economy
{adults 18+}
13 month summary
while confidence continues to track below January’s 13
month high (43.2%), August continues the consistent pattern
of ‘14 – and rests nearly 4 points ahead of Aug-13
Source: Prosper Insights & Analytics
37.8%
28.3%
43.2%
41.5%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%

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sentiment
very confident/confident in chances for a strong economy
{adults 18+}
confidence continues to uptick
like previous months, Aug-14 represents the first August
reading since the Great Recession to exceed 40%,
though the current reading rests 2.4 points below pre-
recession Aug-07
Source: Prosper Insights & Analytics
43.9%
23.6%
31.1%
27.8%
20.6%
34.0%
37.8%
41.5%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Aug-07Aug-08Aug-09Aug-10Aug-11Aug-12Aug-13Aug-14
consumer confidence
sentiment remains relatively stable in August, with 41.5%
confident/very confident in chances for a strong economy,
off half a point from July
13 month summary
while confidence continues to track below January’s 13
month high (43.2%), August continues the consistent pattern
of ‘14 – and rests nearly 4 points ahead of Aug-13
Debt
Crisis

5. © 2014, Prosper®www.ProsperDiscovery.com
strategy
practicality & focus on needs
{adults 18+}
practicality eases
in August, two of out five (42.2%) say they’ve become
more practical with their purchasing, backing down from
July’s 44.6%
the current reading is also tracking about 2 points below
Aug-13
while declining more than a point from July, the majority
of consumers (50.2%) continue to focus on just the
necessities
majority focus on needs
Source: Prosper Insights & Analytics
while this month’s reading remains elevated from Q2, it is
tracking just below last year’s level
44.0%
42.2%
50.8%
50.2%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
55%
I have become more practical and realistic in my purchases
I focus more on what I NEED rather than what I WANT

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holiday spending
total planned spending (in billions)
$601.8
$74.9
$19.9
$17.3
$15.9
$12.5
$12.4
$7.0
$6.3
$4.8
$0 $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700
Winter Holidays*
Back to School/College
Mother's Day
Valentine's Day
Easter
Father's Day
Super Bowl
Halloween
Independence Day
St. Patrick's Day
overview
combined spending for the 2014 Back-to-School / College
season is estimated at $74.9 billion, second only to the
Winter Holiday shopping season ($601.8 billion)
* NRF estimate of Winter Holiday sales, defined as retail industry sales in the months of November and December.
Source: National Retail Federation/Prosper Insights & Analytics™

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back-to-school
back-to-school historical planned spending
{adults 18+}
overview
combined spending for the 2014 Back-to-School / College
season is estimated at $74.9 billion, second only to the
Winter Holiday shopping season ($601.8 billion)
Source: National Retail Federation/Prosper Insights & Analytics™
back-to-school at-a-glance
consumers are expected to spend about 5% more for
Back-to-School compared to last year
$563
$594
$549
$606
$604
$689
$635
$669
$400
$450
$500
$550
$600
$650
$700
$750
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
overall, BTS spending is estimated to reach $26.5 billion

8. © 2014, Prosper®www.ProsperDiscovery.com
back-to-college
back-to-college historical planned spending
{adults 18+}
overview
combined spending for the 2014 Back-to-School / College
season is estimated at $74.9 billion, second only to the
Winter Holiday shopping season ($601.8 billion)
Source: National Retail Federation/Prosper Insights & Analytics™
back-to-college at-a-glance
consumers are expected to spend nearly 10% more for
Back-to-College compared to last year
overall, BTC spending is estimated to reach $48.4 billion
$642
$599
$846
$836
$809
$907
$837
$916
$400
$500
$600
$700
$800
$900
$1,000
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
NRF.com/backtoschool
back-to-school at-a-glance
consumers are expected to spend about 5% more for
Back-to-School compared to last year
overall, BTS spending is estimated to reach $26.5 billion

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thanks
visit ______________________to access:
Consumer Snapshot InsightCenter™
PowerPoint Slides
…and more
Pam Goodfellow
Consumer Insights Director
Prosper Insights & Analytics™
pam@goProsper.com
ProsperDiscovery.com
ConsumerSnapshot.com
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