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24
November 2004
Hong Kong
Consumer confidence in Asia Pacific is still high despite
a slight drop from six months ago. When compared to their
European and US counterparts however, consumers in the Asia
Pacific region are the most confident and optimistic about
the outlook of their local economies. The way in which Asia
Pacific consumers choose to ‘spend’ their spare
cash indicates they have yet to forget completely the spectre
of Asia’s recent economic downturn - according to ACNielsen,
the world’s leading market research firm.
Conducted over the
internet in October, ACNielsen’s Asia Pacific Consumer
Confidence Study was expanded this time round to cover 28
markets across Asia Pacific, Europe and the US interviewing
14,134 consumers.
40 per cent of consumers
in Asia Pacific think their economies improved over the last
six months, and 53% expect them to improve further over the
next year. Conversely, when asked the same question in the
US and Europe, a sizeable 48% of Americans and 40% of Europeans
thought their economies had deteriorated over the past six
months. However, 43% of Americans remained positive about
the year ahead, and optimistic their economy would improve,
and while 31% of Europeans were of a like mind, a further
35% expected the situation to deteriorate further over the
coming year.
“Consumer
confidence in Asia Pacific remains strong with the region’s
consumers standing out as the most upbeat out of all three
regions surveyed. This will be music to the ears of investors
who may have been hesitant in investing in Asia, as they wait
for signs that Asia has emerged from its economic doldrums,”
said Mr Bienvenido Niles Jnr, President, ACNielsen Asia Pacific.
“Consumers
surveyed in the US perceived that their economy had not improved
in the last six months, but were more optimistic of a turnaround
in the year ahead, with 43% expecting an improvement. The
Europeans, however, were split in their opinion where almost
a third each felt the outlook will improve, remain the same
or deteriorate over the next 12 months.”
Across Asia Pacific
and globally, Singapore was the most upbeat market, with two
thirds of its people (66%) believing their economy improved
in the previous six months, followed closely behind by China
(65%) and Hong Kong (64%). However, even though Asia Pacific
represented nine of the Top 10 markets most positive about
the previous six months, the level of economic confidence
regionally was somewhat lower when compared with the same
study conducted in May.
Among the top ten
countries in the world that are most optimistic about the
next 12 months, eight are from Asia pacific. China topped
the list as the most optimistic among all markets surveyed,
with 78% looking forward to further economic improvement over
the coming year, a three-percentage point increase since the
last survey. Following closely behind was India (77%) and
Indonesia (76%). Completing the Top 10 spots were the US ranking
9th (43%), followed by Norway 10th (42%).
In contrast, consumer
sentiment remained low in Korea, Japan and the Philippines
where only 22%, 28% and 32% respectively felt that their economies
will improve over the next year.
“Consumer
attitudes to overall economic performance in Korea and the
Philippines have not improved since the last round of our
survey, and it looks like they remain pessimistic of an upturn
in the months ahead,” said Mr Niles.
How
We Spend Our Spare Cash, the World Over
Across the world, during good times and bad, consumers appear
to respond differently when it comes to how they spend their
spare cash. In Asia Pacific, when asked how they use spare
cash once they have covered their living expenses, nearly
half said they put it in savings or deposit accounts. The
second most mentioned was out of home entertainment (32%)
followed by paying off credit cards debts or loans (29%).
In the US, however,
the top three priorities were reversed, with 33% claiming
they were paying off credit cards debts or loans, followed
by out of home entertainment (29%), and savings and deposits
(23%). This compared to 37% of Europeans spending on out of
home entertainment, followed by savings or deposits (34%)
and new clothes and home improvements each (33%).
“While Asia
Pacific consumers are the most confident globally, they aren’t
ready just yet to loosen fully their purse-strings. The hard
lesson from Asia’s last economic crisis has been learnt.
Asian consumers know from experience that what’s here
today, could be gone tomorrow, and you can never be too prepared,
nor have too much cash put aside for a rainy day,” commented
Mr Niles.
Looking at the
countries where consumers have the highest penchant to save
money, the top nine were from Asia Pacific – lead by
Indonesia (59%), Malaysia (58%) and Thailand (57%), with the
Netherlands the only market outside Asia Pacific making it
into the top ten.
“In the US,
among those with any spare cash, they’re more likely
to pay off their debts rather than save, probably more a reflection
of the ”living-on-credit” culture quite prevalent
in the US, coupled with a marked rise in home equity loans
in recent years. In Europe, irrespective of the economic situation,
the priority appears to be on the finer things in life –
entertain most out of home, and in true European style, being
well-dressed,” said Mr Niles.
About ACNielsen
ACNielsen, a VNU business, is the world’s leading marketing
information company. Offering services in more than 100 countries,
the company provides measurement and analysis of marketplace
dynamics and consumer attitudes and behaviour. Clients rely
on ACNielsen’s market research, proprietary products,
analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive
performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the
profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns.
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