The Hurun Research Institute recently conducted an investigation about luxury consumption towards 551 rich men and women from 31 cities. Among the rich, 69 people were billionaires. The average age of multimillionaires and billionaires was 38 and 40 years old respectively. And the average money they spent yearly was 1.77 million yuan (USD 290,000), less than 3% of their average wealth which was 59 million yuan (USD 9.67 million).
Brief Summary
- Moutai dropped from the fifth place of last year to the thirteenth place, falling out of the Top 10 Preferred Brands for Gifting, but it still remained the only Chinese brand in the list.
- One out of four rich people had confidence in the development of economy, indicating the ratio dropping from 56% three years ago to 25%, sinking to an all-time low.
- The average sleeping hours of billionaires were six and half hours, with half an hour more in weekends.
- The enthusiasm for collections rose rapidly, with watches ranking the first, calligraphy the second and contemporary art continuing to fell to the sixth.
- The rich concerned about health, time and family life most.
- Burberry, Gucci, Montblanc squeezed into the list of Top 10 for the first time this year.
- Brother Watch (Biaoge) phenomenon affected the ranking of Swiss watches, resulting in the fall of watches ranking. Accessories were favorite gifts for rich consumers.
- Billionaires spent one third of time on the way and 9.2 days every month on business trips, 3 days less than last year, 1.7 days more than multimillionaires.
- Australia, being the best tourist destination in 2006, dropped out of the top three for the first time in recent nine years.
- France still remained the top of international travel destinations for rich consumers. England rose from the thirteenth in last year to the fifth this year. The Maldives went through spikes and drops in the list, falling from the fourth of last year to the tenth this year, being out of the Top 5 for the first time during these three years.
- The Internet was the primary access to information, newspaper and magazine ranking the third and fourth. TV was down to the fifth from the first in last year.
- Switzerland rose from the eighth to the fourth in the education destination list.
- 60% of riches were willing to let their children grew up freely.
- The most proud identity was an entrepreneur for a man of wealth.
- 43% of multimillionaires and 58% billionaires held a master degree or EMBA degree.
The Hurun Research Institute published Hurun Report Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2013 for the ninth consecutive year in the press conference of Hunrun Best of the Best Awards dinner party. This survey aimed to reveal a holistic picture about the brand recognition, consumption habit and the lifestyle of China’s wealthy consumers. Statistics about happiness index was added into the survey for the first time this year.
Among all the brands favored by rich consumers, Moutai dropped out of the Top 10. Impeded by the alcohol regulation and the health scare involving the use of plasticizers, its ranking dropped from the fifth to the thirteenth this year. French wine maker Chateau Lafite became the only alcohol brand in the top 10 brands for gifting list, indicating the increasing favor of wine for the wealthy.
The ranking of watch was influenced by the Brother Phenomenon about financial irregularities of government officials which stirred up public opinions. As a result, Swiss watch Rolex was squeezed out of the Top 10 for the first time, and replaced by Longines which was cheaper and ranked the fifteenth of the list. Every multimillionaire owned 4 watches on average while the average number of watches owned by Billionaires dropped from 5.6 to 4.9.
French and Italian brands were favored mostly by the Chinese riches. British brand joined the list of Top 10 for the first time, owing to the performance of fashion brand Burberry which ranked the ninth. Accessories gained the most popularity of gifts for the wealthy.
Apple, being the only electronic brand in list, was widely welcomed by the wealthy, rising from the fourth of last year to the second this year. Due to the massive expansion in the Chinese mainland, Gucci and Montblanc performed particularly well and both broke into the Top 10 list.
Rupert Hoogewerf, the chairman and chief investigator of Hurun Report, said that the wealthy preferred to buy the luxury brands with high reputation but modest price.
Personal Investment
Despite the macroeconomic regulations and controls by Chinese government, the wealthy still kept the faith for the real estate investment which was the primary choice up to 40% for all investments. Stock declined to 43.6% for four consecutive years but it still ranked the second. Fixed income and gold came the third and fourth.
Economy Confidence
One out of four rich persons had confidence in economy. The percentage dropped from 56% to 25%. The ratio of the wealthy with no confidence rose from 1% three years ago up to 9.4%. Under such circumstances, even though most of the entrepreneurs were reluctant to take risks but still more than one third of the wealthy took initiative to invest.
Society Responsibility
Tax payment was still the best way to show responsibility. The concern for environmental protection rose up to 17% from 11% of last year, ranking from the fifth to the third, especially for the respondents who were under 45.
Collection
One out of three rich people had favor for watches. Even though, the watches still remained in the first position but the trend went down for the recent four years. Passion for cars was surpassed by Beijing quadrangle dwellings and Shanghai aged villas. The love for contemporary art fell to the sixth from fifth. And the ancient calligraphy and painting remained the second place.
Travel
Travel was still the first choice for leisure. The frequency dropped for the first time for past five years. Multimillionaires went abroad for 2.8 times on average and billionaires for 3.4 times dropping from 4.2 times in 2012. One third of billionaires’ time were on the transportation with 9.2 days business trips per month, 3 days less than last year and 1.7 days more than multimillionaires’ business trips. The holidays for billionaires were one day longer than the ones for multimillionaires and up to 21 days. The resorts in Sanya was the best destination.
Tourist Destination
Australia dropped significantly to the seventh from the third, staying out of top 3 for the first time for three years. The Maldives went through spikes and drops in the list, falling from the fourth of last year to the tenth this year, being out of the Top 5 for the first time for past three years. Half of the countries were from Europe in the Top 10 list. In last year, there were only two European countries in the list. Japan dropped out of Top 1o this year.
Sports
Swimming, replaced golf, became the favorite way of sports. In recent years, swimming and golf occupied the first two places all along. The ratio of interest for horse-riding doubled and became the fastest growing interest. 40% of the wealthy did exercise three times every week.
Study Abroad
There was a stable ranking for the top three countries, America, England and Canada. Australia dropped from the forth to the fifth. France rose from the ninth to the seventh. One third of the wealthy chose to send their children to study abroad during high school.