Macro and micro pessimism as behavioral precursors of price anxiety and inflation expectations: evidence from Bulgaria’s pre-euro period

Vanya Hristova ()
Additional contact information
Vanya Hristova: University of Economics-Varna, Bulgaria

Business & Management Compass, 2025, issue 4, 5-17

Abstract: Inflation expectations influence household behavior and policy credibility but often diverge from official data. This study explores how macro-and micro-level pessimism predict price anxiety and inflation expectations among Bulgarian households before euro adoption. Nationally representative, cross-sectional data is used -from the June 2025 European Commission Consumer Survey for Bulgaria -fielded by LOGO Market Research as part of its omnibus, within which the author inserted a brief behavioral module. Chi-square tests and independent-samples t-tests show that pessimistic appraisals of the general economy and household finances are associated with higher price anxiety, and anxious respondents report elevated 12-month inflation expectations. The pattern supports an appraisal-affect mechanism. Limitations include self-reports, single-wave design, item nonresponse for numeric perceptions, and national focus. Findings underscore the value of tracking affect alongside cognition to guide expectation-management during euro adoption.

Keywords: Price anxiety; inflation expectations; economic pessimism; behavioral economics; consumer sentiment; households; Bulgaria; pre-euro period. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D84 E31 E71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://bi.ue-varna.bg/ojs/index.php/bmc/article/view/150/37 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrn:journl:y:2025:i:4:p:5-17

Access Statistics for this article

Business & Management Compass is currently edited by Julian Vasilev

More articles in Business & Management Compass from University of Economics Varna Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Yana Doneva ().