Spot survey finds 86pc Chinese consumers to spend less this year

How has the coronavirus changed Chinese consumer attitudes?

A new flash survey by China Luxury Advisors found that the vast majority intended to cut their spending, an unsurprising finding given the traumatic experiences emanating from the COVID-19 coronavirus spread first in China and then worldwide.

“As the U.S. and Europe battle the coronavirus, brands and destinations can look to China – where consumers are beginning to emerge from the chaos – for best practices and lessons learned,” said Sage Brennan, cofounder of China Luxury Advisors, Manhattan Beach, CA.

China Luxury Advisors surveyed 1,097 consumers in China across more than 30 cities during the week of March 2. All respondents had taken at least one overseas trip in the past 12 months.

China is the world's fastest-growing luxury market. Image credit: Retail Store Tours

A few top-line themes emerged from this research:

• Eighty-six percent of Chinese consumers are planning to reduce their spending this year

• Self-care, stress management and healthy living will be prevailing themes in 2020

• Fitness and exercise will increase, both within and outside of the home

• WeChat will increase its dominance as the most-used social and communication platform, and online work and education platforms are expected to continue to outperform

• Healthy living, wellness and distance learning are expected to continue to grow, while luxury handbags, apparel and entertainment industries will struggle to recover in the near term

• Ecommerce will continue its dramatic expansion as a result of the coronavirus, both within China and via cross-border ecommerce platforms such as BorderX

• Travel themes of relaxation and discovering new destinations will resonate most intensely with Chinese consumers after the coronavirus

Above all, like consumers around the world suffering from the coronavirus fallout, Chinese consumers had a common refrain, per the survey: "I just want to go somewhere and relax."