SEA consumers to spend more ahead of Chinese New Year 2022: study

Source: This study by Milieu Insight was conducted on 1,000 respondents each from Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines who intend to celebrate Chinese New Year (CNY) this year. Screening questions were asked prior to find out if they were celebrating CNY for them to be eligible for this study. Fieldwork was conducted in December 2022. 

Key findings:   

• Singaporeans are more likely to travel overseas during the CNY celebrations (83%), compared to their counterparts in the region  
• Shopping in-person for fashion is still the preferred choice among consumers in Singapore and Malaysia. In contrast, Filipino consumers prefer to do so online via marketplace ecommerce sites or brands/retailers' websites  
• Overall intention to spend across the various categories for this year remains largely unchanged from spending patterns last year, but 53% expect that their spending this year will be higher than the last, which could likely be due to inflation and increasing prices.   
• Among those that said their spending will be lower this year, 70% said that it is somewhat or to a large/very large extent due to inflation 

Additional findings:

• The most common food products/services that Southeast Asian consumers will spend on for Chinese New Year are fresh fruits and vegetables (63%), sweet snacks and confectioneries (eg. biscuits, candies, chocolates) (50%) and non-alcoholic beverages (eg. milk, tea, soda) (44%) 
• Vietnamese consumers tend to spend on food hampers (46% vs 27% regional average), alcoholic beverages (53% vs 36% regional average), and food catering services (37% vs 25% regional average) 
• Most common food products/services that Thai consumers intend to spend on are fresh fruits and vegetables (73% vs 63% regional average) and ready-to-eat meals (54% vs 37% regional average) 
• Singaporean consumers are more likely to spend on sweet snacks and confectioneries (61% vs 50% regional average), chips and crackers (48% vs 36% regional average) frozen food (45% vs 33% regional average)