Overcoming job Stability, Health has become the No.1 concern of Vietnamese consumers. Vietnamese consumers spend on premium health insurance packages with the highest rates globally.
Ho Chi Minh City, October 9, 2019 – Vietnam’s consumer faith remained stable in the second quarter of 2019 with an index of 123 percentage points – though it decreased 6 points from the previous quarter.
However, Vietnam continues to rank among the most optimistic countries globally and ranks in the fourth position in the world for having the most positive consumer index, followed by India, the Philippines and Indonesia, respectively points 138, 130 and 126 according to the latest statistics made by The Conference Board® Global Consumer Confidence ™ in cooperation with Nielsen, a global business performance measuring company.
In this quarter, Vietnam’s Consumer Confidence Index dropped from 129 points to 123 points compared to the previous quarter, citing the downward trend of the main factors including: Optimism about job opportunities, Security on personal financial situation and intention to spend shopping. Globally and regionally, many countries experience similar CCI declines due to rising costs and political issues.
Compared to the same quarter of 2018, CCI Vietnam’s score increased by 3 points (from 120 points to 123 points) with the growth of 2 out of 3 main motivations: Optimism about job opportunities and intention to buy, Shopping (respectively + 5 points and + 4 points), The Reassurance factor about the personal financial situation remained stable compared to the second quarter of last year (-1 point).
Overcoming the stability of work, health has become the top concern of Vietnamese consumers
In the second quarter of 2019, Vietnamese consumers continued to rank Health (44%, equivalent to the first quarter 2019) and Job stability (42%, -4% compared to the first quarter of 2019) were the two concerns. Their top priority while 22% of respondents pointed out that life balance issues (22%, -2% compared to the first quarter of 2019) is the third most important factor.
It is worth noting that Health has overcome job stability to become the top concern of Vietnamese consumers, which is largely predictable, according to Louise Hawley, the Managing Director of Nielsen Vietnam. “Vietnamese consumers are more concerned about their health than ever before. Air pollution and the environment are hot topics that are becoming more and more of a concern. With the current alarming environment and rising consumer awareness, health is expected to continue to be the top concern of Vietnamese consumers in the third quarter of 2019.”
In this quarter, the concern about increasing utility bills of Vietnamese people increased sharply from 6% to 13%. “By the end of the first quarter of 2019, electricity prices in Vietnam have increased by more than 8%, resulting in strong interest and more attention to the cost of utility bills,” said Ms. Louise Hawley.
In the second quarter of 2019, the issue of life balance rose 1 rank on the list of major concerns with 21% of respondents saying this was a worrying issue (compared to 24% of people that are asked in the first quarter of 2019). In addition, other important areas of concern for Vietnamese consumers are the economic situation (21%, -6% compared to the first quarter of 2019) and children’s education and welfare (9%, + 2 % compared to the first quarter of 2019).
Vietnamese consumers are the global leader in spending on premium health insurance packages
Globally, Southeast Asian consumers are still ahead when it comes to saving trends. In the second quarter, despite a slight decrease (75% to 69%), Vietnam continued to be in the top 2 countries with the highest saving trend, only behind Hong Kong (70%).
Following the trend from the previous quarter, Vietnamese consumers continue to spend part of their spending on premium health insurance packages (38%, -2% compared to the first quarter of 2019). In this quarter, Vietnam became the country with the highest percentage of global spending on premium health insurance packages, followed by Switzerland (35%), Indonesia (35%) and China (33%). “With the current polluted environment, Vietnamese consumers not only worry about their health but also start to take action to protect it. This is the reason that Vietnam ended this quarter with the highest spending trend on health care insurance packages (38%),” explained Ms. Louise Hawley.
In addition, Vietnamese also indicated that they spent less on new clothes (-9%), outside entertainment (-6%), new technology products (-8%) and upgrades / house decoration (-8%) compared to the previous quarter.
* Source: Nielsen