ProsperChina™: Upper Income Chinese Consumers Becoming More Practical; Big Ticket Purchase Intentions Down Year Over Year
Interest in Fashionable Clothing Not Affected by Increased Practicality
WORTHINGTON, OH--(Marketwire - March 3, 2011) - 61.5% of Chinese consumers 18-54 with annual incomes over 100,000 RMB have become more practical with their purchases in the past six months, according to the ProsperChina™ Q4 Survey of 19,402 respondents. This reading is up from 58.5% in Q4 2009. Being practical and budget conscious are becoming more prominent among Chinese consumers with higher incomes. Likely because those earning lower incomes are already practical, fewer of those with incomes less than 100,000 RMB indicate they have become more practical or budget conscious:
In the last six months, have you made any of the following changes?
| Q4 2009 / Q4 2010 | ||||||
| Household Incomes (RMB) | ||||||
| Adults 18-54 | 60K-99K | 100K+ | ||||
| I have become more practical and realistic in my purchases | 60.7% / 59.2% | 60.9% / 59.2% | 58.5% / 61.5% | |||
| I have become more budget conscious | 35.8% / 34.5% | 39.8% / 37.6% | 35.5% / 40.3% | |||
Source: ProsperChina™ Q4 Survey, 2009/2010
The uptick in being more practical may reflect a loss of confidence in the economy among the high earners. 59.5% of those with incomes 100,000 RMB or higher are confident or very confident in chances for a strong economy over the next six months, down from 66.3% in Q4 2009. In addition, plans to buy big ticket items, such as computers, houses and vacation travel, are down from one year ago.
Purchase plans for vehicles are also down among upper income Chinese. 34.1% of those earning 100,000+ RMB plan to purchase a vehicle in the next six months, along with 25.7% of those with incomes 60,000-99,999 RMB (compared to 39.5% and 34.3%, respectively, in Q4 2009). However, the number of wealthy Chinese who own vehicles is up approximately 7% from last year for both higher income segments.
For a complimentary report including big ticket item purchase intentions and top vehicle makes in China: http://www.formsite.com/prosper/SS030311
The move towards being more practical does not impact clothing purchases for Chinese consumers with incomes over 100,000 RMB. More of these consumers in 2010 indicate that familiar labels are important to them and that sales are not important when buying clothing:
| Q4 2009 / Q4 2010 | ||||||
| Household Incomes (RMB) | ||||||
| Adults 18-54 | 60K-99K | 100K+ | ||||
| Familiar labels are important to me | 68.3% / 67.3% | 73.0% / 72.9% | 78.5% / 79.7% | |||
| Sales are not important to me when I buy clothing | 36.8% / 35.7% | 37.2% / 36.5% | 43.0% / 46.6% | |||
Source: ProsperChina™ Q4 Survey, 2009/2010
Q: "When buying clothes, familiar labels are important to me." A: Yes/No
"Which of the following best describes your shopping strategy for clothing?"
For a complimentary report including feelings towards fashion: http://www.formsite.com/prosper/SS030311
About ProsperChina.com
ProsperChina.com is a niche portal for the China marketplace, providing access to marketing information and consumer insights on China's growing market from diverse sources. Also available are unique insights from quarterly Chinese surveys providing updates on shopping behavior and future purchase intentions of Chinese consumers. Visit http://www.ProsperChina.com.
Contact:
Chrissy Wissinger
Randi Honkonen
(614) 846-0146
info@prosperchina.com