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Sydney, 9 March 2009: Australians seem determined to get rid of the infamous "fattest nation in the world" title¹ and are prepared to spend to do it. While Asia-Pacific consumers are tightening their belts in 2009 and cutting back on discretionary spend, consumer spending on Fitness & Wellness is set to hold up even in these uncertain economic times, according to the latest Index from MasterCard Worldwide.

In Australia, the results of the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Resilience show that Fitness & Wellness, with a Resilience Index score of 76, is the category that is most resilient to spending cutbacks among those who said they would purchase from the category in the next six months – followed by Personal Travel (Resilience Index score of 61) and Dining & Entertainment (Resilience Index score of 60).

The Survey also reveals that Fitness & Wellness is the most resilient category throughout the Asia-Pacific region, with a Resilience Index score of 78.

The MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Resilience measures the resilience of the top planned expenditure categories of Asia/Pacific consumers to spending cutbacks. The Index is derived from the following data - the categories of goods and services that consumers would spend on in the coming six months, how important each of these categories is to consumers and if they would cut back on their discretionary spending over the next six months.

The minimum index score is zero, and indicates that consumers who plan to purchase from this category do not deem the category as important, making the category extremely vulnerable to any spending cutbacks over the next six months. A maximum score of 100 indicates that consumers who plan to purchase from this category rate the category as very important, making the category extremely resilient to any spending cutbacks over the next six months. The survey covers 6,019 consumers across 14 markets, and was conducted between 1 and 29 September 2008. The Index and its accompanying reports do not represent MasterCard financial performance.

In terms of general purchasing resilience, the Resilience Index score for consumers across Asia/Pacific is 67, with Chinese consumers being the most resilient among consumers in Asia/Pacific (Resilience Index score: 81), followed by those in Japan (76), Indonesia and India (74 each). With a Resilience Index Score of only 62, Australia is below region average – another sign confirming the country is bracing for tough times.

"In such times, many companies are keen to ascertain the spending patterns of consumers and the MasterCard Resilience Index has been developed to provide valuable insights on consumers' purchasing resilience in key discretionary categories," said Eddie Grobler, executive vice president, Australasia, MasterCard Worldwide.

"Spending on fitness & wellness has become increasingly important, especially for the younger and better educated consumers, and therefore it is not surprising that this category, which is integral to the 'Aussie way of life', has emerged with the highest Resilience score in the country," he added. "It's very interesting to note that, in what appears to be a very healthy New Year's resolution, Australian consumers intend to spend less on Dining and Entertainment than they do on Fitness & wellness."

While Indian, Chinese and Australian consumers are most resilient in the areas of Fitness and Wellness (Resilience Index scores of 90, 88 and 61 respectively), Japanese consumption priorities are most resilient in Dining and Entertainment (81), while Indonesian consumption priorities are most resilient in Property and Renovations (80).

The MasterCard Worldwide Index of Resilience is the latest addition to the MasterCard Worldwide Index suite of research products in Asia/Pacific. The other key MasterCard Worldwide Index research products include the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence, the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Priorities, the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Women’s Advancement, the MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce and the MasterCard Worldwide Emerging Markets Index.

Besides the suite of Indexes put forth by MasterCard, MasterCard also develops Insights reports as part of its series of ongoing research and analysis of business dynamics, financial policies and regulatory activities in the Asia/Pacific region. Sixty-three reports have been produced since 2004.

The suite of Indexes and reports do not represent MasterCard financial performance.

• Indian consumers demonstrated the most resilience in spending on Fitness and Wellness (Resilience Index score: 90), followed by Chinese consumers (88) and consumers in New Zealand (79).
• Chinese consumption priorities in Property and Renovations (Resilience Index score: 85) are most resilient, followed by Indian consumers (83) and Indonesian consumers (80).
• Indonesian consumers demonstrate the most resilience in spending on Fashion and Accessories (Resilience Index score: 76), followed by consumers in China (75) and India (66).
• Japanese consumption priorities in Dining and Entertainment are most resilient (Resilience Index score: 81), followed by Chinese and Indonesian (79 each) consumers.
• Chinese consumers demonstrate the most resilience in spending on Personal Travel in Asia/Pacific (Resilience Index score: 75), followed by consumers in New Zealand (74) and Japanese consumers (71).
• Only two markets across Asia/Pacific demonstrated resilience in spending on Consumer Electronics: Indonesia (Resilience Index score: 60) and Vietnam (58).

Note:

1. The resilience of an expenditure category in a market is only calculated if more than 30% of the market’s respondents said that they would purchase from the category in the next 6 months
2. A market’s average is based only on those categories in which the market demonstrates resilience.

	Fashion & Accessories		Dining & Entertainment		Fitness & Wellness		Consumer Electronics		Personal Travel
Market	% of people who said they will purchase from the category in the next 12 months	Resilience Index Score	% of people who said they will purchase from the category in the next 12 months	Resilience Index Score	% of people who said they will purchase from the category in the next 12 months	Resilience Index Score	% of people who said they will purchase from the category in the next 12 months	Resilience Index Score	% of people who said they will purchase from the category in the next 12 months	Resilience Index Score
Australia	54%	50	60%	60	47%	76	14%	NA	59%	61
China	43%	75	54%	79	44%	88	21%	NA	38%	75
Hong Kong	75%	62	81%	64	26%	NA	22%	NA	55%	64
India	34%	66	34%	56	47%	90	27%	NA	25%	NA
Indonesia	72%	76	74%	79	9%	NA	32%	59.9	29%	NA
Japan	11%	NA	58%	81	10%	NA	10%	NA	37%	71
Korea	33%	63	20%	NA	12%	NA	0%	NA	19%	NA
Malaysia	42%	58	59%	61	28%	NA	8%	NA	43%	56
New Zealand	48%	38	74%	49	62%	79	13%	NA	63%	74
Philippines	46%	47	37%	30	36%	76	9%	NA	21%	NA
Singapore	46%	49	58%	54	54%	73	17%	NA	53%	59
Taiwan	43%	44	70%	49	34%	74	14%	NA	53%	51
Thailand	40%	54	83%	65	11%	NA	10%	NA	46%	51
Vietnam	61%	60	76%	66	41%	74	37%	58.2	50%	63
Region	46%	59	59%	63	34%	78	17%	NA	42%	63

	Car		Motorcycle		Renovations and Property		Continuing One's Education		Average Resilience Index Score
Market	% of people who said they will purchase from the category in the next 12 months	Resilience Index Score	% of people who said they will purchase from the category in the next 12 months	Resilience Index Score	% of people who said they will purchase from the category in the next 12 months	Resilience Index Score	% of people who said they will purchase from the category in the next 12 months	Resilience Index Score
Australia	18%	NA	2%	NA	21%	NA	7%	NA	62
China	18%	NA	3%	NA	34%	85	18%	NA	81
Hong Kong	11%	NA	5%	NA	19%	NA	28%	NA	63
India	6%	NA	16%	NA	49%	83	12%	NA	74
Indonesia	9%	NA	7%	NA	38%	80	16%	NA	74
Japan	8%	NA	1%	NA	13%	NA	14%	NA	76
South Korea	2%	NA	0%	NA	10%	NA	20%	NA	63
Malaysia	24%	NA	4%	NA	25%	NA	16%	NA	59
New Zealand	14%	NA	3%	NA	33%	68	6%	NA	62
Philippines	8%	NA	6%	NA	48%	73	19%	NA	57
Singapore	25%	NA	11%	NA	43%	77	18%	NA	62
Taiwan	7%	NA	3%	NA	29%	NA	11%	NA	55
Thailand	20%	NA	1%	NA	44%	72	10%	NA	61
Vietnam	15%	NA	19%	NA	44%	76	27%	NA	66
Region	13%	NA	6%	NA	33%	75	16%	NA	67

Contacts:

Carlie Fowler, Professional Public Relations, carlie.fowler@ppr.com.au, 02 9818 0939
Myriam Thibault, Professional Public Relations, myriam.thibault@ppr.com.au, 02 9818 0942