Scrimping Singaporeans lag Asia in spending on dining and entertainment

A new survey from Mastercard has found that whilst 69% of consumers in Asia Pacific planned to spend on dining and entertainment this year, in Singapore the figure was just 58 per cent.

According to the MasterCard Survey on Consumer Purchasing Priorities, 69% was a percentage point shy of the highest indicated level since the survey began, representing a growth of four points from six months ago.

In all but one of the Asia/Pacific markets included in the survey, Dining and Entertainment was the top spending priority. The top three markets in the region were Vietnam (89%), Korea (78%) and Hong Kong (75%). A similar trend appeared in Middle East, where all of the six markets surveyed featured Dining and Entertainment as the top spending priority. Some 98% of Egyptians said they would spend on Dining and Entertainment over the next six months, the highest across all the markets surveyed.

The MasterCard Survey on Consumer Purchasing Priorities, released twice yearly, provides valuable insights into consumers’ discretionary spending priorities for the six months ahead. The latest survey was conducted from 13 September to 11 November 2010 and involved 10,502 consumers from 24 markets1 across Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Data collection was via internet surveys, personal, telephone and Computer Aided Telephone interviews, with the questionnaire translated to the local language wherever appropriate and necessary. The Survey and its accompanying reports do not represent MasterCard financial performance.

The percentage of consumers in Asia/Pacific going to spend on Fashion and Accessories has increased by 6 percentage points to 50% from six months ago. The category is second only to Dining and Entertainment in Australia (50%), New Zealand (53%), Singapore (58%), China (64%) and Vietnam (78%). Another category that grew was Consumer Electronics. Some 43% of consumers surveyed across Asia/Pacific plan to spend on consumer electronics in the next six months, up 6 points from the second half of 2010.

The growth trend in Asia/Pacific for spending priorities in the Dining and Entertainment, Fashion and Accessories and Consumer Electronics categories is supported by the fact that most consumers are planning to maintain the same level of discretionary spending for the first half of 2011 as six months ago. Some 52% of consumers in Asia/Pacific are planning to maintain the same level of discretionary spending, while 19% intend to increase their spending and 29% are planning to decrease their spending. Taken together, these numbers represent the most favorable sentiment in terms of discretionary spending intentions since the survey started collecting this data.

In Asia/Pacific, China (31%), Hong Kong (29%) and India (26%) have the highest percentage of consumers planning to increase their discretionary spending in the next six months while countries with the highest percentage of consumers planning to maintain their level of discretionary spending are Vietnam (62%), Australia (59%) and Korea (59%). As a region, the Middle East had the highest percentage of consumers who were planning to maintain their discretionary spending (63%).