Post-80s lap up luxury goods

Shanghai Daily, November 26, 2011

China's "post-80s" generation's appetite for luxury brands is making the country a vital market for high-end retailers, according to a new survey.

The influence of post-80s - people born after 1980 - is set to grow, making China the most promising luxury market for tomorrow, according to 2011 China Luxury Forecast, released by Ruder Finn Asia and Albatross Global Solutions yesterday in Shanghai.

Some 1,057 respondents participated in the survey, which covers more than a dozen first and second-tier mainland cities and also Hong Kong and Taiwan.

More than half of respondents were aged between 21 and 30, and more than half of those surveyed had annual incomes of less than 180,000. (US$28,199).

Mainland consumers expressed the greatest confidence, with 92 percent of respondents intending to spend the same or more on designer brands next year, compared to 2011, despite inflation and economic uncertainty.

In contrast, only 20 percent of those polled in Taiwan gave this response.

The survey showed that for young Chinese luxury purchases are mainly prompted by self-defined goals - especially to reward and encourage themselves.

Flaunting status, which was the top motive in previous surveys, is seen as less important.

The report showed that microblogging is an increasingly important information channel on luxury goods. Some 35 percent of respondents also said they shop online.