MIND & MATTERS

Understanding the hearts and minds of New Zealanders

Insights designed to help you better understand public sentiment, from macro trends to behaviours and attitudes towards key interest areas.

New Zealand consumer shopping in a store

Q2 2026 Findings

Future outlook

Future outlook shifted sharply in April 2026, with expectations of things getting worse more than doubling.

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Direction

Perceptions that New Zealand is heading in the wrong direction have eased slightly since March.

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Current mood

Stress, frustration and anxiety all increasing amongst New Zealanders.

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Cost of living and inflation

Financial pressure continues to increase, with a growing proportion saying their income covers only the essentials.

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Download collated versions of our findings as well as our latest special reports focussing on specific topical issues.

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About this tracker

Mind & Matters has been running since 2023 and is an evolution of Perceptive's Covid-19 Tracker.

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Future outlook

New Zealanders' future outlook shifted sharply in April 2026, with expectations of things getting worse more than doubling from the beginning of the year and optimism falling to its lowest point recorded. The decline likely reflects heightened global uncertainty, including the escalation of conflict in the Middle East. While confidence improved slightly in June as tensions eased, pessimism remained well above earlier levels.

😀  Positive outlook


"We are all happy and healthy."

"Consistent new employment, more money to save."

"Positive thinking."

 

🙁  Negative outlook


"Prices will keep rising while incomes do not."

"I am getting behind in all my bills and can’t find a job."

"Cost of living and international events."

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As part of Omnicom Intelligence, we have launched Fuel Shockwaves, a new report series tracking how global fuel disruptions are reshaping consumer behaviour across New Zealand and Australia.

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Direction

Since reaching a record high in March, perceptions that New Zealand is heading in the wrong direction have eased slightly. This followed a period of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, with conflict in the Middle East contributing to higher fuel prices and renewed pressure on household budgets. While fuel prices softened through May and June, around two-thirds of New Zealanders still believe the country is heading in the wrong direction.  

 

 

Despite easing slightly since April, healthcare and the economy remain the areas most New Zealanders believe are heading in the wrong direction. Following the May budget announcement in NZ, negative perceptions of the economy and leadership and politics increased, before easing slightly in June. However, all three continue to be viewed negatively by a majority of New Zealanders.

Confidence has declined across every area moving in the right direction over the past few months. While ‘personal life’ remains the most positively rated space, financial situation has seen the steepest decline, falling 14pp since February to become the lowest rated area. This aligns with growing concerns about the economy and confidence in New Zealand's leadership and politics.

 

 

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Current mood

 

Despite starting the year feeling happy, relaxed, optimistic and motivated, New Zealanders are now feeling the complete opposite - with stress, frustration and anxiety all increasing. Stress is now the most commonly reported emotion, while optimism and motivation have fallen to their lowest levels in the tracker.

The emotional outlook has shifted for Kiwis as geopolitics and its impacts on cost of living remain an issue. Looking at the past year, negative emotions have overtaken positive emotions. In March, both were almost equal (76% positive vs. 71% negative). By April, negative emotions (74%) overtook positive emotions (68%). This has remained through May and June, marking a significant change in New Zealanders' emotional wellbeing.

 

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Latest results by gender (Apr-June 2026)

 

M&M_Q2-Net emotions - gender

 

Latest results by age (Apr-June 2026)

 

M&M_Q2-Net emotions - age

 

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Household impacts

Key expenditure cuts for New Zealanders

Here are the key spending categories New Zealanders consider essential and are unable to reduce, along with the top categories they would cut back on first for the month of October.

Unable to cut back/essential

  1. Rent – 90%
  2. Council rates – 89%
  3. Mortgage – 86%
  4. Vehicle insurance – 69%
  5. House and/or contents insurance – 69%

Would cut back on first

  1. Alcohol/tobacco/vapes – 72%
  2. Consumer electronics and appliances – 69%
  3. Entertainment, media and streaming – 69%
  4. Clothing and footwear – 68%
  5. Homeware and décor – 67%
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Financial situation

The impact of the rising cost of living remains widespread and largely unchanged. Nearly half of New Zealanders say they are more conscious of their spending, while around a third continue to cut back on what they buy. Only one in ten say rising costs are having no effect on their household, highlighting that cost-of-living pressures remain a reality for most.

 

Inflation’s impact on Kiwi households has remained relatively stable overall, however, the share of households reporting no impact has halved since December.

 

 

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Download reports

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Snapshot report | 2026

Q1 2026

A compilation of quarterly findings from 2026.

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In 2024 we asked New Zealanders about their summer plans. In 2025 we revisited the topic to see what has (or hasn’t) changed.

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Click or Clinic? | Healthcare advice in New Zealand

Jul - Sep 2025

In this issue we ask Kiwis about their perceptions and experiences of getting health advice in New Zealand.

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Pipe Dream or Possibility | Home buying intentions in 2025

Apr - Jun 2025

We asked Kiwi first home buyers about their perceptions and experiences of the current market.

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Testing the waters | New Zealand water management perceptions

Jan - Mar 2025

We asked New Zealanders about their perceptions of how their water is managed.

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2025

A rolling compilation of monthly findings from 2025.

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Nov - Dec 2024

We asked New Zealanders about their summer spending and new year priorities.

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A rolling compilation of monthly findings from 2024.

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Aug - Oct 2024

We asked New Zealanders what their plans were for summer.

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Rainy days | Financial wellbeing

May - Jul 2024

We asked New Zealanders what they were doing to improve their financial situation.

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End of the road | EV/hybrid road user charges

Feb - Apr 2024

We asked New Zealanders what they thought about the road user charge changes.

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Holiday spending and new year resolutions 2023/24

Nov 2023 - Jan 2024

We asked New Zealanders about their holiday spending and priorities for 2024.

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About this tracker

What is Mind & Matters?

Mind & Matters is designed to help business and leaders better understand public sentiment. From macro trends to behaviours and attitudes towards key interest areas, such as such as cost of living, personal finance, future outlook, wellbeing and more, Mind & Matters is your comprehensive check-in on the state-of-mind of the New Zealand public.

Why we’re running this tracker?

In April 2020, in the midst of a pandemic lockdown, Perceptive and Sapien built the first Covid-19 Tracker to help businesses and leaders better understand the hearts and minds of Kiwis as we experienced this unprecedented event.          
         
Fast forward to 2023 and the world—and New Zealand—continues to experience change on multiple fronts, from rising inflation to the rise of eCommerce and generative AI. With this in mind, Perceptive and Sapien have taken the best of our Covid-19 tracker produce this comprehensive tracker that explores what Kiwis think, feel and believe in relation to some of the most topical and challenging issues of today.

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