Australian millennials plan to spend on average $US2523 ($A3615) on luxury goods over the next year, according to a survey conducted by MasterCard.
The survey results also demonstrate the share of luxury spend is moving away from designer clothes and handbags, towards consumer tech, such as smartphones and tablets, while bricks and mortar is still the preferred channel to purchase pricey products.
Millennials (18-29 year olds) in China are the biggest purchasers of luxury goods in Asia Pacific, followed by South Korea and Hong Kong.
Millennials from China intend to spend on average $US4362 ($A6250) on luxury goods over the next year, nearly double that of the Asia Pacific average of $US2584 ($A3702). South Koreans will spend $US2638 ($A3780) and Hong Kong’s millennials will part with $US2584 ($A3702).
“A quarter of millennials in Asia Pacific plan to spend significant sums on the latest technology such as smartphones and tablets over the next year. This reflects a shift in priorities away from designer clothes and jewellery and towards communications technology,” said Eric Schneider, region head, Asia Pacific, MasterCard Advisors.
“Yet, an increased desire for technology and the ability to get online has not led to a dramatic shift in purchasing from instore to e-commerce. The vast majority of young people still prefer to browse instore, perhaps as a result of consumers’ somewhat misplaced concern with online security, theft and fraud, particularly when making bigger purchases. Meanwhile, the majority of Chinese millennials prefer to buy luxury goods instore while travelling, this reflects not only a preference for Western brands but also value for money, as lower prices abroad are a major pull factor.”
For Australians, high-end gadgets such as smartphones and tablets are the most popular luxury items they plan to spend on in the next year(25 per cent), followed by designer clothes and leather goods (14 per cent), and jewellery (13 per cent).
Forty-five per cent of Australians surveyed will take under a month to research and consider a luxury item before buying it, while around a quarter will only buy a luxury item after two to six months of extensive research (26 per cent) and 22 per cent tend to buy on impulse. Most purchase luxury goods instore rather than online with more than one in two buying locally instore on sale (53 per cent).
The results are based on interviews that took place between between May and June 2015 with 2272 18 to 29 year olds across 14 markets in Asia Pacific: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
