Consumer Intentions To Buy TV Sets Jumped Sharply in March, Conference Board Says

Consumer intentions to buy TV sets jumped sharply in March from February, according to preliminary data in the Conference Board’s monthly survey. Of 5,000 consumers Nielsen canvassed through March 17 for the Conference Board, 15.7 percent said they plan to buy a TV set in the next six months, up from 13.6 percent in February and 13.5 percent in January, and up from 13.6 percent in March 2015, the Conference Board said. The March figure of 15.7 percent was the highest score for TV-buying intentions since July, when 14.5 percent of consumers canvassed said they planned to buy a TV set in the next six months. The Consumer Confidence Index, which declined in February, improved in March because consumer expectations “regarding the short term turned more favorable as last month’s turmoil in the financial markets appears to have abated,” the Conference Board said in a Tuesday announcement. “On balance, consumers do not foresee the economy gaining any significant momentum in the near-term, nor do they see it worsening.”