Levels of discretionary spend set to be maintained in India and across Asia Pacific

MasterCard survey finds that consumers across Asia Pacific plan to keep spending on non essential items.

Of the Asia Pacific markets surveyed, only Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand expect consumer discretionary spend to slow.

Nights out are in

Dining and entertainment is India's first priority, 55% of respondents placing it first. This news lends credence to Yum Brands view that they can grow the number of KFC outlets to over 1000. The popularity of dining out is reflected across Asia Pacific, where it ranks in the top two of each surveyed nation.

Home buying, a high priority in India

Perhaps linked to the drive towards affordable housing, buying or renovating a home is a prime concern for consumers in India. It ranked as the second most important priority with 33%; Indonesia came second in the region with 28%.

Indian consumers are also focused on providing their children with private tuition and extra curriculum activities. This was deemed important to 29% of consumers. is important for consumers in India.

Stronger outlook for domestic consumption

Survey findings show that consumers in Asia Pacific expect to spend over the next 6 months, no matter what the economic circumstances.

Commenting on the results, Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, Asia Pacific adviser for MasterCard Worldwide, said. "The latest findings are positive for a stronger outlook of domestic consumption in 2010, and barring any unexpected shocks to the economy, we expect private consumption to continue to grow,"

Scope

The MasterCard Survey of Consumer Purchasing is updated every 6 months. It gauges consumer discretionary spend across 10 categories.

The latest survey ran from 1 October to 9 November 2009 and involved 10,623 consumers from across Asia Pacific.

December 16, 2009 Add a comment