1. www.ProsperDiscovery.com
Consumer Snapshot
april 2013

2. © 2013, Prosper®
discoverysentiment strategy
april 2013
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.

3. © 2013, Prosper®
sentiment
Source: Monthly Consumer Survey
consumer confidence
those very confident/confident in chances for a strong
economy climbs to 40.1% in April
very confident/confident in chances for a strong economy
{adults 18+}
25.0%
27.0%
29.0%
31.0%
33.0%
35.0%
37.0%
39.0%
41.0%
sure, an increase is great but….
sentiment is volatile – we haven’t seen any consecutive
months of increase since Q3 2012
Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan
preliminary index of consumer sentiment for April 2013
declined to a nine month low (source)

4. © 2013, Prosper®
sentiment
Source: Money.MSN.com Screenshot
consumer confidence
those very confident/confident in chances for a strong
economy climbs to 40.1% in April
Dow Jones Industrial Average Index
sure, an increase is great but….
sentiment is volatile – we haven’t seen any consecutive
months of increase since Q3 2012
Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan
preliminary index of consumer sentiment for April 2013
declined to a nine month low (source)
what about the stock market?
one out of three Americans judges the health of the U.S.
economy by the performance of the stock market

5. Source: Harris Interactive Study for Everest College
Read More: Stressed Out at Work? It's Getting Worse, Study Shows
83% of American workers feel
stressed out by their jobs, up from
73% a year ago.
1. Low Pay
2. Unreasonable Workload
3. Annoying Co-Workers, Commuting (tie)
4. Working a Job not the Chosen Career
5. Poor Work / Life Balance

6. © 2013, Prosper®
strategy
Source: Monthly Consumer Survey
Which of the following financial steps are you planning to take in the next 3
months? {adults 18+}
financial stress
despite the uptick in confidence this month,
consumers’ financial plans become more
conservative compared to March
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Decrease overall spending
Pay down debt
Increase savings
Pay with cash more often
Mar-13 Apr-13

7. © 2013, Prosper®
strategy
financial stress
despite the uptick in confidence this month,
consumers’ financial plans become more
conservative compared to March
skinny piggy banks
february’s personal saving rate (ratio of personal
saving to disposable personal income) was 2.6%
(source)
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce: Bureau of Economic Analysis/FRED
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
Jan-02 Aug-03 Mar-05 Oct-06 May-08 Dec-09 Jul-11 Feb-13
Percent
U.S. personal saving rate

8. © 2013, Prosper®
strategy
financial stress
despite the uptick in confidence this month,
consumers’ financial plans become more
conservative compared to March
skinny piggy banks
february’s personal saving rate (ratio of personal
saving to disposable personal income) was 2.6%
(source)
off the grocery list {adults 18+ who are trimming their lists}
shorter shopping lists
one out of three is trimming his/her grocery lists
due to current personal financial situation – this
figure rises particularly among the 35-54 year olds
Source: Monthly Consumer Survey
1. Impulse Items (62%)
2. Magazines (40%)
3. Snack Items (39%)
4. Candy (38%)
5. Cookies (37%)
6. Name Brands in General (35%)
Least Likely to give up?
Coffee

9. © 2013, Prosper®
discovery
happiness & the economy
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
44%
46%
48%
50%
52%
54%
56%
58%
60%
62%
%PlanningtoBuyVehicleinNext6Months
HappinessScore
Happiness Score Plan to Buy Vehicle*
Light Weight
Vehicle Sales
R= .73
as Happiness fluctuates, intentions to buy a
new car/truck in next 6 months tend to
move in same direction
relationship between the Happiness Score &
Light Weight Vehicle Sales was examined
by time shifting the data one
month (happiness leading) a strong
correlation (r=.73) was identified
happy people buy cars
for more…
visit ProsperDiscovery.comSource: Monthly Consumer Survey; U.S. Department of Commerce: Bureau of Economic Analysis/FRED

10. © 2013, Prosper®
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