Consumers continue to embrace ethical shopping in Asia/Pacific

MANILA, Philippines -

More consumers across Asia/Pacific are shopping with a conscience, according to the results of the latest MasterCard survey on Ethical Spending. Social responsibility and sustainability remain high on the agenda for the region’s shoppers with 70 percent of respondents saying that they made fair trade purchasing choices in the last two to three years. This is up from the region-wide figure of 66 percent last year. Some 55 percent of those polled also indicated that they were willing to pay more for products based on fair trade principles.

Thailand (95 percent), Malaysia (85 percent), and China (86 percent) continue to have the highest proportion of respondents who based their purchases on fair trade principles, showing an increase over the 2009 survey figures. They were also the top three markets for fair trade purchases in last year’s survey.

The survey also shows that 61 percent of respondents in Asia/Pacific bought items specifically because they were environmentally friendly, holding steady from the 62 percent in 2009. In fact, 61 percent of respondents across the region said they were willing to pay more for products that are environmentally friendly. Similarly, 56 percent of respondents said they were willing to pay more for products with a percentage of the sale being donated to a good cause. 

“It is very encouraging to see that shopping with a conscience has taken root – our latest research shows that Asia/Pacific shoppers are not just focused on good buys, they are just as focused on doing good,” said Georgette Tan, vice president, Communications, Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa, MasterCard Worldwide.

While Asia/Pacific consumers are looking to shop more ethically, one in two of those polled in another MasterCard consumer survey are planning to make a charitable contribution in the next six months. Respondents in the Philippines (68 percent), Hong Kong (66 percent), Malaysia (63 percent) and Indonesia (62 percent) were the most charitable within the region.

Among the Asia/Pacific markets, the charitable consumers were mostly married (51 percent) and 55 years and above (57 percent). Women (50 percemt) are slightly more inclined towards making a charitable donation than their male counterparts (48 percent).