Frugality is the go-to lifestyle for many Vietnamese.
According to a new Consumer Confidence report by market research firm Nielsen, in the fourth quarter of 2017, 72% of Vietnamese people reported they would transfer spare cash into savings. In the previous quarter, the percentage was 66%.
However, that doesn’t mean that Vietnamese are all penny-pinchers, as many also said they are willing to spend money to improve their quality of lives. Forty-nine percent of the people surveyed mentioned new clothes while 44% listed holidays and vacations as ways to spend spare cash.
Other categories on which Vietnamese consumers are likely to spend include: home improvements (42%), out-of-home entertainment (41%), new technology products (40%), and premium medical insurance (29%). Keep in mind that respondents can pick more than one option.
The most popular ways Vietnamese spend their spare cash. Image by Nielsen.
The report outlines the five most popular saving strategies in Vietnam, which include cutting down on out-of-home entertainment purchases, spending less on new clothes, saving gas and electricity, avoiding takeaway meals, and delaying tech product upgrades.
The trend seems to extend throughout Southeast Asia. Nielsen findings show that 66% of Southeast Asian consumers put their spare money into savings, while 41% and 30% of them spend them on vacations and new clothes, respectively.
The report also reveals the top five concerns of Vietnamese consumers, which haven't changed much from the previous quarter. Job security remains the biggest concern for Vietnamese and Southeast Asian consumers in general. Health came second for Vietnamese, followed by work/life balance, the economy and parents' well-being.
The Consumer Confidence report based its findings on the result of the Global Consumer Confidence Survey, conducted by Nielsen and The Conference Board from November 8 to November 23 2017, which involved 32,000 online responses from 64 countries.
