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Nielsen: Spending by mainland Chinese tourists declining

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Nielsen's latest Mainland Tourist Study exploring shopping behaviours and patterns revealed that mainland Chinese tourists are visiting Hong Kong less frequently with less to splurge.The study surveyed 1,131 visitors who travelled from tier one and tier three cities in mainland China to Hong Kong, before going on to visit Macau, over the past 12 months.  The respondents were between 18 to 65 years old and filled out an online questionnaire between late August and early September.Incomes of respondents in this year's study fell by 9% compared to 2013.According to the 2014 study, respondents visited Hong Kong an average of 2.2 times over the past year compared to 2.7 times last year.The respondents are also spending 12% less in Hong Kong - they spent an average of almost HK$22,000 this year compared to almost HK$25,000 in 2013.A Nielsen spokesperson attributes this decreased expenditure to mainland tourists spending less on luxury products and more on personal care and FMCG products.However, Eva Leung, managing director of Nielsen Hong Kong and Macau, says shopping is still the core activity for those surveyed.“96% of respondents claimed they will come for shopping during their next trip to Hong Kong but they will spend an average of 10-20% less than in the past. The decline is most notable among non-Guangdong tier one visitors," she said.The main product types demanded by visitors from tier one cities outside of Guangdong are cosmetics, and jewellery and watches, making up  purchases of 80% and 70% of respondents respectively.This mirrors two of the top three product types purchased by all respondents in the study, with the third being personal care products.It's not just projected spending by tier non-Guangdong tier one visitors that's declining - there has also been a 9% decrease in planned spending by mainland tourists from tier two and three cities.On the bright side, purchases by mainland tourists are often planned.59% of respondents said they planned their trips to Hong Kong, up 8% compared to last year.  Among these respondents, recommendations from friends and relatives were factors affecting their purchases for 58% of them while 41% saw their purchases influenced by Weibo and WeChat posts.The Nielsen spokesperson added while there is no one-size-fit-all strategy, marketers could look at the way mainland tourists plan their purchases to develop content marketing strategies targeting specific mainland Chinese customer segments on these social media platforms.The competition between brands continues to be fierce as switching between brands is a common practice for 34% of respondents if they cannot find what they want in a certain store.“Chain retailers and brands are also seeing more competition from small boutiques as mainland tourists are becoming more sophisticated shoppers," Leung said.[Image]: Shutterstock

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