Abstract: A computing apparatus is configured to quantify consumer sentiment at an aggregated or micro level using transaction data that records the transactions processed by a transaction handler of a payment system. A quantification model is generated based on correlating transaction data with respective emotional content indices extracted from data sources, such as regional news, weather, stock markets, movie themes, local sports, employment, traffic conditions, etc. Using the quantification model, consumer sentiment can be evaluated at various granularity levels, based on the granularity of the user group and the time period of the transaction data used in the quantification model.