Real GDP takes inflation into account vs nominal GDP

My point is that there are quantitative metrics for defining a recession and those same metrics are imperfect because they can be gamed.

Lastly, government can redefine a recession to mean X straight quarters of negative GDP growth where X is normally 2 but can be changed to 3 or 4

Consumer confidence is subjective because it's a survey or poll but still a useful measure for comparison purposes.