Whereas last year during the first quarter 4% of Latvians surveyed admitted that concerns about the chance of war breaking out affected their daily buying habits, in the first quarter of 2015 already 32% of respondents said they were worried about a war and that it was influencing their consumer behavior.
Lithuanians and Estonians were also markedly concerned, however slightly less so than Latvians. In Lithuania war-worrywarts rose from 2% in the first quarter last year to 21% this year, while in Estonia the figure jumped from 3% last year to 24% so far this year.
Among other factors affecting the consumption patterns of Baltic consumers, according to those polled, health concerns were cited by 40% of Lithuanians and 25% of Latvians, while 35% of Estonians said problems in the economy had them most worried.
Other worries mentioned included children’s education in Lithuania, untenable household budgets in Latvia (19%, happily down from 45% during 2014’s first-quarter) and health care costs in Estonia (28%).
Worries about finding a job fell in Lithuania (20% from 24%) and Latvia (13% from 17%), while staying level in Estonia at 9%.
The Nielsen surveys have been conducted each quarter since 2005.