Spending on fitness and wellness to see least cutback

MANILA, Philippines - While Asia/Pacific consumers are tightening their belts in 2009 and cutting back on spend, consumer spending on fitness and wellness is set to hold up even in these uncertain economic times, according to the latest Index from MasterCard Worldwide. The results of the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Resilience show that fitness and wellness, with a resilience index score of 78, is the category that is most resilient to spending cutbacks among those who said they would purchase from the category in the next six months.

The MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Resilience measures the resilience of the top planned expenditure categories of Asia/Pacific consumers to spending cutbacks. The Index is derived from the following data — the categories of goods and services that consumers would spend on in the coming six months, how important each of these categories is to consumers and if they would cut back on their discretionary spending over the next six months.

The property and renovations segment is also holding up well, with the second highest resilience index score (75) among consumers who plan to make purchases in the next six months. Dining and entertainment (resilience index score: 63), personal travel (63) and fashion and accessories (59), which ranked among the top planned expenditure items of Asia/Pacific consumers, are the other categories which showed resilience.

“In such times, many companies are keen to ascertain the spending patterns of consumers and the resilience index has been developed to provide valuable insights on consumers’ purchasing resilience in key discretionary categories. Dining and entertaining, which are integral to the urban middle class lifestyles, are among the most robust spending priorities in Asia/Pacific. Spending on fitness and wellness has become increasingly important, especially for the younger and better educated consumers, and therefore it is not surprising that this category has emerged with the highest Resilience score,” said Dr Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, economic advisor, Asia/Pacific, MasterCard Worldwide.