Chinese Millionaires Stay Hungry for French Luxury Goods

Hurun Report presents findings from Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2013

l  Chinese baijiu brand Moutai falls out of Top 10 Preferred Brands for Gifting

l  Luxury watch industry has tough year with only Longineslisted as a preferred watch brand for gifting, coming in at fifteenth

l  Millionaires don’t sleep much, only 6.5 hours a night.  At the weekend, half an hour more.

l  Burberry, Gucci and Montblanc jump into Top 10 Preferred Brands for Gifting

l  The super-rich spend a third of their time on the road, 9.2 days a month

l  Australia out of Top 3 as preferred luxury destination for first time since 2006

l  France most popular luxury destination, Britain rises to fifth

l  Switzerland is the year’s big performer as an education destination

l  Millionaires prefer the internet to source news, TV is down to fifth place from first last year

l  The wealthier Chinese millionaires are, the more unhappy they are

l  Chinese Millionaires are concerned with improving their health and family life

(Shanghai, 15 January 2013) The Hurun Research Institute today released the Hurun Report Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2013. The survey reveals the lifestyle and brand preferences of China's wealthy consumers, and is intended to provide a holistic understanding of the spending habits and lifestyle changes of this burgeoning, influential and ever-changing consumer class. This year the survey included questions for the first time on the ‘happiness index’ of these wealthy consumers.

The Survey also ranks the brand preferences of the Chinese luxury consumers, which are presented at the annual Hurun Best of the Best Awards today.  2013 is the ninth year of the Hurun Report Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey and Hurun Best of the Best Awards.

Preferred brands for gifting

Moutai has struggled this year, falling to thirteenth place in the Preferred Brands for Gifting, down from fifthlast year.  This drop in popularity cameon the back of a public debate about whether government officials, the largest customer base for Moutai, should be allowed to consume a brand which is effectively a luxury brand with its main product retailing at RMB 1800 a bottle, and also a health scare involving the use of plasticizers. Moutai is the only Chinese brand to make the list of preferred brands. French wine maker Chateau Lafite was the only drinksbrand to make the Top 10 brands for gifting, a clear representation of the Chinese luxury consumers’newfound love of wine.

The luxury watch industry has had a toughyear, perhaps brought on by bad PR for the industry following cases involving financial irregularities of government officials and watch ownership. Swiss watchmaker Longineswas the only watch brand to make the list, coming in at fifteenth place, and replacing the more expensive Rolex brand, which dropped off the list altogether this year.

French gifts are still all the rage, dominating the list. Accessories (leathers etc.) are the gifts of choice. The UK has an entry in the Top 10 this year, with fashion brand Burberry. Luxury brands Gucci and Montblanc also performed particularly well this year, both breaking into the Top 10 for the first time.

Applemoved up to second place for Preferred Brands for Gifting by Men, from fourth place last year.  LV and Chanel were top for Preferred Brands for Men and Women respectively.

Hurun Report Founder and Chief Researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said, “This year, there is a clear trend towards gifting more modestly-priced top luxury goods.”

Table 1: Best Brand for Gifting by Men

Source: Hurun Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2013

Table 2: Best Brand for Gifting by Women

Source: Hurun Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2013

Personal Investments

Property is still the key personal investment option for most surveyed (over 60%), despite increased government control on property purchases and a generally poor market. Shares are again in second place, but the % of those listing it as an investment fell to its lowest figure in 4 years.

Confidence

One in four are extremely confident when asked on the economic future, even though this number has fallen to a four year low, the figure is still surprising considering confidence levels in Europe and the US. Those who responded “not confident” rose this year to 9%, still a relatively insignificant number, but again, the highest since records began four years ago.

Social Responsibility

Tax is still considered the best way to be socially responsible, and environmental concerns are still important, especially among respondents who are over 45.

Collections

One in three respondents classify themselves as watch collectors, which is still by far the most popular collectible, however, this does represent a significant fall in popularity compared to three years ago, where one in three collected watches.

The popularity of Contemporary art collection continues its downward trend, falling in position again this year.

Trophy property collection is on the up and is considered by a growing number of Chinese luxury consumers to be an essential jewel in their collection portfolio.

Travel

Travel is the number one leisure activity. However, Chinese super-rich aregoing overseas less – 3.4 times a year compared to 4.2 the year before. Chinese super-rich are also on the road less than the year before, 9.2 days a month, three days less than last year. Sanya is the most preferred holiday home destination.

Best International Luxury Destination

Source: Hurun Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2013

Australia's popularity has fallen dramatically from third to seventh on thelist of favoured international holiday destinations, the first time it has fallen out of the Top Three since 2006. The Maldives, whichshot into and then remained in theTop 5 for twoyears, falls to tenth, possiblyindicating that the island destination is going out of fashion. Most notable, is the surge in popularity of Europe as a luxury destination, which had its most successful result since our records began, with half of theTop 10 destinations, European. The UK, perhaps on the back of the London Olympics, is in at number five and Switzerland has also performed well. This year, Japan dropped out of the Top 10.

Sports

Swimming is the hobby of choice according to theresults, beating golf to top spot. Both swimming and golf have taken the top two sports in recent years. The surprising result was that of Horse riding, which is up to fifthand is the fastest rising sporting pursuit among China's wealthy.

Study Abroad

There is no change at the top on the previous year's results for study abroad preferences with the US ahead, followed by the UK and Canada. Australia dropped a place to fifthand France jumped from ninthto seventh.

Media

In terms of media preference for accessing news, TV dropped to fourth from first place last year. The internet was the medium of choice for news, followed by newspapers in second and magazines in third.

Millionaire Happiness Report

The inaugural Millionaire Happiness Report is a sub-report of the Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2013,documenting the satisfaction that Chinese millionaires have in their lives. In general, the report shows that the richer you are, the less happy you are.

The report shows that Chinese millionaires don’t sleep that much, 6.6 hours on average during the working week. The Chinese super-rich, fall into two categories, those who are workaholics and those who are winding down, supposedly toward early retirement.

Self-made female millionaires are more likely to be divorced, 35% of the respondents, with an average age of 37 years, are either divorced or remain unmarried which is twice the figure amongst their male counterparts.

Men consider setting up their own company as the happiest moment of their life, whereas women consider theirs to be falling in love. 

Both male and female millionaires are dissatisfied generally with their health and want to spend more time with their children.

For their children, Chinese super-rich wish most that they will either become entrepreneurs themselves or take over the family business.

Millionaires and the super-rich are better educated than expected, with 43% and 56% respectively claiming to have a post graduate degree, mostly Executive MBAs.