Consumer confidence in the South Island plunged in the three months ended March, driven almost completely the the February 22 earthquake in Christchurch.
The Westpac McDermott Miller consumer confidence survey showed an overall fall in confidence with the index falling 10.4 points to 97.9 in March.
A number below 100 indicates more pessimists than optimists. In the South Island, the fall in confidence was much more pronounced.
The Nelson-Marlborough-West Coast region fell 15.1 points to 91.1, Canterbury fell 19.5 points to 90.4, Otago fell 15.8 points to 97.4 and Southland fell 11.2 points to 92.8. The survey was conducted between March 1 and 13.
Westpac economist Dominick Stephens said that out of respect for the situation in which they found themselves, Christchurch residents were not interviewed for the survey. Instead, additional households from the rest of Canterbury were interviewed.
"Consumer confidence plummeted from the Christchurch earthquake. The fall in confidence was across the board - geographically, by age, income group and sex.
"Consumers are much more pessimistic about the near-term economic outlook."
A net 46.5% of respondents now expected bad economic times over the next year, up from 9.7% in December.
By contrast, a net 1.2% expected their personal financial situation to improve over that time, down from 8.5%.
Households expressed less readiness to make big-ticket purchases, with a net 12.5% now saying it was a good time to buy a major household item, down from 16.5%.
Last year showed how cautious domestic spending could dampen economic recovery, even in the face of record high commodity prices, Mr Stephens said.
Historically, changes in households' economic outlook had been "reasonably good" harbingers of the direction of spending, although not necessarily by how much.
"Risks to confidence following the Christchurch earthquake were a key factor behind the Reserve Bank's decision to cut the official cash rate by 0.5% and this survey supports that decision," he said.
The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence showed positive sentiment, but only just.
The index fell seven points in the March month to 101.4 points, where a reading above 100 indicates more optimists than pessimists.
Consumer confidence had fallen by 16 points since the start of the year and was now at the lowest reading since March 2009, ANZ-National Bank chief economist Cameron Bagrie said.
The current conditions index fell two points to 94.1.
Perception towards households' current financial position improved from -20 to -16 (both minus) but fewer households now believed it was a good time to buy a major household item.
The future expectations component fell from 115.9 to 106.4 with a net 28% of respondents expecting worse times financially.
