Irvine : Consumers Ready for Buying Binge, Poll Says

County consumers are upbeat about the economy in the coming year and ready to go on a buying binge, said Mark Baldassare, a pollster and associate professor of social ecology at UC Irvine.

Baldassare, in revealing part of his 1986 Orange County Annual Survey, said the poll showed that an overwhelming majority of county residents believe this is a good time to make major purchases such as refrigerators, television sets and furniture. He said 83% of the 1,008 adult residents polled in this year’s survey said they think economic times are good for buying.

“Despite recent ups and downs in the national economy, consumer confidence in Orange County today is 18% higher than it is across the nation, and higher than it has been anywhere in the country since 1983,” Baldassare said.

He added that county residents’ optimism may be due to affluence--63% of the residents polled said they were financially better off today than one year ago, and 58% said they think they’ll be even better off a year from now.

While county residents are optimistic about the coming year, Baldassare said the poll showed that they are less certain about the prospects five years from now. “Consumers are taking advantage of the current lull in inflation, but they’re worried about the economy in the long run,” Baldassare said.

The complete results of the 1986 Orange County Annual Survey will be announced later this year. The poll, which Baldassare directs, has been conducted since 1982 by the UCI Public Policy Research Organization’s Center for Survey Research.