Survey of Consumer Attitudes and Behavior (1953-November 2021)

Measure changes in consumer attitudes and expectations, to understand why these changes occur, to evaluate how they relate to consumer decisions to save, borrow, or make discretionary purchases, and to forecast changes in aggregate consumer behavior. Changes in consumers' willingness to buy are best assessed by making use of the answers to all questions asked in the surveys, especially the open-ended questions that probe underlying reasons. Nevertheless, in order to make available a summary measure of change in consumer sentiment, the Survey Research Center uses the answers to selected questions to calculate an Index of Consumer Sentiment. Each survey also probes a different aspect of consumer confidence. The surveys use a national sample of dwelling units selected by area probability sampling that is representative of the adult population of the United States. For time periods not held by ICPSR, see the Surveys of Consumers website. Free registration is required. There is an embargo on the most recent 6 months. Up to date summary data can be found in Datastream. Also known as the Surveys of Consumers.