IRISH LEAGUE OF CREDIT UNIONS LAUNCHES ‘WHATS LEFT’ DISPOSABLE INCOME TRACKER INDEX

Research Conducted by iReach Market Research

FIRST INDEX SHOWS 13% OF IRISH HOMES CANNOT MAKE ENDS MEET

83% of respondents who have little or no income left over after paying for essentials worry about how they will cope if unforeseen expenses arise

36% of those with little or no income left over each month do not see a future for themselves or their family in this country

45% of respondents state that they are unlikely to have money to save in the current economic climate.

(April 2011) The Irish League of Credit Unions has today announced the launch of a new disposable income tracker index. The ‘What’s Left’ Index will record how much disposable income Irish people have this year, where they are spending their money and the financial hardships they are facing. The 2011 results will be used as baseline measurements for the ‘What’s Left’ trackers over the coming years. The results of the 2011 trackers will be announced in April, July, October and December.

Speaking at the launch, ILCU CEO Kieron Brennan said: “It has become more and more apparent that many Irish families are seriously struggling in what are very difficult financial times. We have just seen an ECB rate increase last week which is likely to push families and individuals further into mortgage difficulties and arrears. This combined with increasing fuel costs, the introduction of the universal social charge and cuts in social welfare means that 2011 will be one of the most difficult years for the Irish population in terms of money management.

He continued: The aim of the ILCU ‘What’s Left’ tracker is to highlight the areas in which Irish people are experiencing financial difficulty, for example; the amount of disposable income left each month after essential bills are paid, capacity to save money each month, what families consider essential spending and to what extent people worry about their finances for the year ahead.

Highlights from the ‘What’s Left’ tracker was undertaken by iREACH Market Research on behalf of the Irish League of Credit Unions

The highlights from the first (April 2011) ILCU ‘What’s Left’ tracker found that, as expected, mortgage and rent are seen as the largest / most important bills for respondents (72%). This is followed by utilities (55%) and groceries (51%). Transport / car (26%), loan repayments (25%), credit cards (25%) and health insurance (24%) were all ranked at a similar level of importance.

Of all respondents: 21% of have between 1 – 5% of their income left over after they have paid essential bills. 6% state their income doesn’t even cover their essential bills while a further 7% state that they have nothing left after they have paid their essential bills to live on.

27% of respondents have just enough (10-20%) of their disposable income left over after they have paid for all their essentials while a further 20% have more than 20% left over which is enough to enjoy themselves.

Of those that work: 19% of respondents have between 6-10% of their income left over after they have paid for their essentials. It is estimated using CSO data (Q4 2010) that this cohort only have on average of €70.00 left over each month after paying for all their essential bills.

A further 20% of those who work state that they have a small amount of between 6% and 10% or an average of €200 of their income left

Changes from this time last year: 69% of respondents have found that their disposable income has decreased from this time last year reflecting changes to tax charges and increasing utility bills and transport costs. Just 12% believe that what they have left over after they have paid for essentials has increased since this time last year while 19% believe it has stayed the same.

Of those who have less than 5% of income left each month: 83% of respondents who worry about how they will cope if unforeseen expenses arise.

74% who have little or no income left after pay for essential bills fear that they will not be able to cope if there are any further changes made to social welfare / income tax

36% do not see a future for themselves or their family in this country

30% believe that with any further changes to the minimum wage they would be better off not working

Saving: 45% of respondents state that they are unlikely to have money to save in the current economic climate

52% of those with dependent children are unlikely to have money to save as opposed to 42% of those without children

Notes to Editor

About the Tracker Survey

The survey was conducted by Market Research Company iReach during the period of 24^th March to 1^st April using the iReach Consumer Decisions Research Panel which delivered 1,000 responses from adults in Ireland aged 18+ to 65+ and is nationally representative by Age, Region, Gender and Social Class. The results of the 2011 trackers will be announced in April, July, October and December

Estimates are based on CSO Earnings and Labour Costs Q4 2010 Preliminary Estimates which places average weekly earnings at €699.46

Your Brand and Social Media – Help or Hindrance

The Big Opportunity from Social Media: Understanding Consumers Online

Marketing professionals around the world are recognising that social media represents not only a way of communicating with customers but also a strategic data source for making decisions. Consumers are sharing a constant stream of opinions, emotions, and behaviours online, and this chatter represents valuable information about what they are thinking and feeling about your brand.

The social media universe is growing at an astonishing rate. According to the iReach/Carat Digital Pulse monthly media tracker, almost two-thirds of online Consumers in Ireland are now use social media.

1. Facebook reports that the average user creates 90 pieces of content each month.

2. As many as 80% of consumers report that they do online research before they purchase many products, from consumer goods to financial services.

With this volume of data available, those companies that can break through the noise to truly understand their consumers have unique opportunities to:

• Optimise their messaging, advertising, and packaging

• Identify “hot topics,” market trends, and unmet consumer needs

• Measure and monitor their social media brand, its drivers and inhibitors

Where Is Social Media Analysis Today?

To date, businesses have used social media data primarily to monitor the quantity of conversations about their brand (“buzz”) and to get a quick read on sentiment, that is, whether online posts are positive, negative, or neutral.

In order to realize the strategic value of social media data, businesses need answers to three key questions:

• Can sentiment be a useful measure to capture from social media?

• How accurate is the data analysis upon which sentiment data relies?

• What actionable information could we extract from social media other than sentiment?

Accurate Sentiment Analysis Reveals Social Brand Health Sentiment analysis focuses on analysing the content of online posts, determining whether they are positive, negative, or neutral, and aggregating the sentiments detected into a single generic score. Sentiment analysis can serve as a practical, cost-effective way to track general brand health over time, assuming you have a way to measure sentiment accurately.

What methods or tools do you use to analyse such data?