Synovate survey shows ascending Singaporean spending power
6 October 2005
SINGAPORE — Synovate, a leading global market intelligence company, today released information from the 2005 Synovate PAX media survey that showed rises in wealth, product and service ownership and improvements in lifestyle across Singapore's affluent residents.
The Synovate PAX survey tracks media, prosperity and influence in eleven markets across the Asia Pacific region – Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, India, Australia and Japan.
Wanda Gill, Media Director for Synovate in Singapore said that the affluent of Singapore were enjoying high confidence and spending power.
"In just the last few months, our constantly-updated tracking has enabled us to watch Singapore's ever–increasing confidence translate into higher product ownership, increasing purchase intentions and improving lifestyle."The Synovate PAX results for 2005 show that the average monthly household income of the Lion City's affluent residents has risen from US$4,826 to US$5,456 – a 13% relative change.
"With greater household wealth, these Singaporeans are rewarding themselves with purchases of top tier luxury and consumer items and steady increases in property ownership and investment," Ms Gill said.
The Synovate PAX survey allows marketers to get a full picture of Singapore's affluent consumers – what they watch, read, buy and how they feel about advertising and branding – enabling them to target their marketing efforts.
Ms Gill said that the 2005 results painted a picture of Singapore as the quiet powerhouse in relation to other markets in the region.
"While Hong Kong's wealthy are conspicuous consumers and buy items for their fashion status, Singaporeans tend to be more considered in distributing the fruits of their labours. Singapore's elites still spend – and spend a lot – but our data shows they won't get their wallets out on a whim.
"Marketers must appeal to this lack of pretension and realise Singaporeans are not as status-conscious as people from Hong Kong or as acquisitive as the wealthy of other South East Asian economies which are less mature. Singaporeans are comfortable in their skins and are more likely to buy to make their lives easier," Ms Gill said.
The Synovate PAX survey delves into peoples' attitudes to brands and advertising via a series of psychographic statements. Some of the findings for Singapore were:
- 11.5% of Singapore's elites agreed with the statement that they are among the first to buy a new product or gadget. This is below the regional average, showing that Singaporeans are less in a rush than other markets, waiting to see if the item fits into their lifestyle.
- More than two thirds of Singaporeans agree that paying for quality is worthwhile.
- 46.9% wealthy Singaporeans prefer to buy well known brands, well over the regional average of 41.1%.
- Singaporeans show a focus on lifestyle with 41.5% agreeing that a home with modern appliances is important to them – this compares to the regional average of 38.7% and 28.9% in Hong Kong.
- There's an indulgent streak across affluent Singaporeans, with one of the highest levels of agreement to the statement "I sometimes like to treat myself to something special". 58.2% of PAX respondents agreed in Singapore, with only Sydney-siders more indulgent (62%). The regional average is 48.5%.
Synovate PAX also covers product and service ownership, purchase intention over the twelve months to June 2006 and lifestyle.
- As a major regional business hub of Asia, it would be expected that a great deal of business travel originates here. However, from June 2004 to June 2005, we have seen a 22% increase in Singapore's affluent taking off on one or more business trips. Around 28% of these PAX respondents travel for business. But Singapore's elite still find time to relax – more than 50% have taken one or more leisure trips in the year to June 2005 too.
- An all-time high number of 38.6% of affluent Singaporeans now own laptops or notebooks, up from 31.9% in June 2004.
- Likewise, ownership of a mobile phone with Internet access hits an all-time high – it stands at 37.7% and shows steady increases for every quarter measured. This continuing trend is good news for mobile manufacturers and 3G networks and service offering planners. Indeed, more than 92% of affluent Singaporeans own a mobile with or without Internet access – they are here to stay and all these people will upgrade as mobile content becomes more and more compelling.
- Digital dominance seems more and more inevitable as we observe relentless increases in Singaporean ownership of devices like MP3 players (up to 23.1%, a rise of a quarter over the year before), digital video cameras (43.7% now own these, up from 35.9%) and digital still cameras (more than half of affluent Singaporeans own these - an increase from 41% in 2004). Indeed, the love affair with digital is truly blossoming.
- It's fair to say that the marketers of LCD or plasma televisions have enjoyed a good year. They close to doubled their market size, with the number of wealthy Singaporeans already owning one of these TVs rising from 7.6% to 12.7%. And there's still a great deal of upside, with 10% expressing the intention to purchase this top tier item in the next 12 months.
- Car ownership impressively jumped for the second consecutive year. At the end of June 2005, 60% of cashed up Singaporeans owned one, up from 56.6% at the same time last year. This is an especially good sign of confidence in this very expensive place to own one – the reduction in COEs would play a significant role in this as well. And indicating that the trend is set to continue, 11.7% of respondents intend to purchase a private vehicle over the next twelve months.
- Singapore's love affair with football / soccer continues – a third of PAX respondents read about it, watch it or attend games. This is up from 29.5% last year. In fact, Singapore is really getting sporty - tennis, badminton, basketball and golf all showed higher levels of interest too.
- With more disposable income, Singaporeans have also been getting cultural. More people have attended a concert, opera, ballet, live theatre, art gallery and museums.
- The interest in quality wine continues to gain momentum. Spending on quality wine has dramatically increased from US$144 in 2004 to US$223 in 2005. This is a massive 55% relative increase.
- The number of elites of the island state who own a second property is up to 10.6%. Increases in people living in an owned property have been registered as well – 22.9% of PAX respondents own their homes.
To find out more about Synovate PAX, click here.
Contact(s) for this press release
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Linda Collard
Director, Marketing Communications |
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9/F Leighton Centre |
Telephone: +852 2830 2588 |
Synovate, the market research arm of Aegis Group plc, generates consumer insights that drive competitive marketing solutions. The network provides clients with cohesive global support and a comprehensive suite of research solutions. Synovate employs over 6,000 staff across 62 countries.
For more information on Synovate visit www.synovate.com.