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Auckland, 5th January 2010: New Zealanders say they plan to use their discretionary spend by spoiling themselves on entertainment and dining out over the next six months, according to the latest MasterCard Worldwide Survey of Consumer Purchasing Priorities

New Zealand’s top three spending priorities for the first half of 2010 are dining and entertainment (59%), followed by fashion & accessories (47%) and consumer electronics (36%). This year fitness and wellness slips back two spots to fifth place with 32%.

The MasterCard Survey of Consumer Purchasing Priorities is released twice a year and provides valuable insights into consumers’ discretionary spending priorities for the six months ahead across 10 main categories. The survey and its results do not represent MasterCard financial performance.

Stuart McKinlay, country manager New Zealand, MasterCard Worldwide says, it is interesting to see how Kiwis are choosing to prioritise their purchasing activities in 2010.

“This might reflect that people see the coming year as a chance to treat themselves, after a conservative 2009 saw them tightening purse strings as the global economy cooled and confidence softened,” Mr McKinlay said.

“As we enter 2010 and economic indicators point toward improving sentiment, people are heading back into the shops to buy items that either entertain or make life easier.”

Home is certainly where both the heart and discretionary spend is for a number of New Zealanders, with 30% of respondents rating buying a house or renovating their home important in the next six months.

The survey data also provides information on how resilient each of the ten categories is to cutbacks in planned expenditure. The more resilient a category is, the less prone it is to cutbacks. The data is used to derive the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Purchasing Resilience.

Among the ten main discretionary spend categories, the most resilient for New Zealanders appears to be fitness and wellness (with a Resilience Index Score of 77), travel (Resilience Index Score of 67) and dining and entertainment (Resilience Index Score of 59).

The following data from the survey is used for the Index: the categories of goods and services that consumers plan to spend on in the coming six months, how important each of these categories is to them and if they are expecting to cut back on their discretionary spending over the next six months in these categories from the six month period prior. The Index and its accompanying reports do not represent MasterCard financial performance.

The latest survey was conducted from 1 October to 9 November 2009 and involved 10,623 consumers from across Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Three new African markets were added to this survey - Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria - bringing the total number of markets surveyed to 24¹. Data collection was via personal, online, telephone and Computer Aided Telephone interviews, with the questionnaire translated to the local language wherever appropriate and necessary.

Market highlights from the MasterCard Worldwide Survey of Consumer Purchasing Priorities and the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Resilience include:

Asia/Pacific

Consumer Purchasing Priorities for the Next Six Months

• A majority of consumers in 10 of the 14 Asia/Pacific markets plan to maintain their level of discretionary spend for the next six months, keeping it at similar levels to six months ago. Only four markets (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand) show a majority of consumers looking to decrease their discretionary spending compared to six months ago.
• Similar to the previous survey released in July ‘09, dining and entertainment (62%) as well as fashion and accessories (44%) remain the top two spending priorities across Asia/Pacific for the next six months. Fitness and wellness has however slipped a notch, with consumer electronics purchases (38%) now in third place.
• Dining and entertainment ranks among the top two spending priorities across all 14 markets surveyed in Asia/Pacific and took top spot in 12 of the markets – Australia (61%), China (54%), Hong Kong (73%), India (55%), Japan (69%), Korea (75%), Malaysia (55%), New Zealand (59%), Singapore (72%), Taiwan (69%), Thailand (66%) and Vietnam (90%) .
• Fashion and accessories ranks among the top three spending priorities for the next six months in 10 of the markets – Australia (48%), China (48%), Japan (50%), Korea (57%), New Zealand (47%), Philippines (55%), Singapore (48%), Taiwan (47%), Thailand (37%) and Vietnam (80%).
• More consumers in the region (38% vs. 30% six months ago) are looking to spend on consumer electronics. This category is among the top three spending priorities for consumers in eight markets – Australia (36%), China (43%), Hong Kong (54%), Japan (43%), Korea (49%), New Zealand (36%), Singapore (53%) and Taiwan (54%).
• In terms of some of the other key categories:
  • Buying or updating/renovating one’s home is a priority for consumers in India (ranking as the second most important priority at 33%) and Indonesia (ranking as the third most important priority at 28%)
  • International air travel (59%) ranks second as a spending priority for consumers in Hong Kong
  • Providing their children with private tuition and extra curriculum activities is important for consumers in India (29%), Indonesia (34%), Malaysia (46%) and Thailand (39%), with the category ranking among their top three spending priorities.
• Compared with six months ago, more consumers (54% vs. 31% six months ago) across the region have shopped online for discretionary items such as holidays, entertainment and luxury goods.

MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Resilience

• Spending on fitness and wellness is the most resilient across Asia/Pacific, with an Index score of 76. This is followed by spending on dining and entertainment (Index score: 66) and fashion and accessories (Index score: 62).

MasterCard and its Suite of Research Properties Based on the MasterCard Survey on Consumer Purchasing Priorities, the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Resilience is part of the MasterCard Worldwide Index suite of research products in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa. The others include the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence and MasterCard Worldwide Index of Women’s Advancement.

Besides these, MasterCard also regularly releases its Insights reports; the series is part its ongoing research and analysis of business dynamics, financial policies and regulatory activities in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region. Over 70 Insights reports have been produced since 2004. MasterCard has also released a series of four books on Asian consumer insights, authored by its Asia/Pacific economist, Dr. Yuwa Hedrick-Wong and published by John Wiley & Sons.

The MasterCard Indexes and Insights reports are available at www.masterintelligence.com

MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes approximately 21 billion transactions each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial-institution customers and merchants. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network and through its family of brands, including MasterCard^®, Maestro^® and Cirrus^®, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to www.mastercard.com.