How the upcoming election season will impact Australia’s media spend

You don’t need to be in the race to be affected by the upcoming Federal election. Throw a budget and a state election into the mix and that’s a crazy few months for the Australian media industry.

What impact does a Federal election have on consumer spending?

A study conducted during the 2016 federal election by QUT concludes that, although it has traditionally been suggested that uncertainty surrounding an election might slow consumer (retail) spending, there is little evidence both in Australia and globally to support this. Rather, retailers often look for a scapegoat for lower than forecast sales and often pin it on an election as an external factor. This research was corroborated by the University of Chicago and Princeton in the US which both found that elections have minimal impact on how consumers actually spend.