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20 April 2006
Hong Kong
The annual toy show has just closed after the Easter break, however the collection habit is certainly prevalent among Hong Kong people as one of their many pastimes - regardless of gender, age or income level.
ACNielsen today releases findings from a study into Hong Kong consumers’ collection habits. It reveals that nearly half (47%) of Hong Kong consumers have a collection habit and have spent an average of HKD3,698 in the past year to quench their collecting thirst.
“Apparently, the hobby of collection prevails across all age groups and both genders as evidenced by this survey,” commented Amy Lee, Director, ACNielsen Customized Research Hong Kong. “The type of collectibles range from mass items like photos of movie stars, cartoon figurines and stamps to more pricey goodies like Watches.”
Men are usually less likely than women to be labelled shopaholics. But when it comes to collectibles, men seem to be more willing to open their pockets than women. On average, Hong Kong people spent HKD3,698 in the past 12 months on collectibles, while men spent an average of $4,430, 41 percent more than spent by women ($3,139) and 20 percent over the total average over the same period. (Table 1)
Collectibles come in many forms for collectors. Postal stamps remain the most popular, with 18 percent of people surveyed claimed to be a Filatelist. Cartoons figurines are next most popular (15%), followed by badges and magnets in cartoon characters’ icons or cut outs (12%). On average, self-confessed collectors claim to have collected at least two types of these goodies.
“Doing business in HK is becoming more competitive, with consumers more demanding and sophisticated than ever, and requiring twice the effort from advertisers and marketers to develop creative campaigns to capture their audience’s attention,” Ms Lee said.
“Different promotions and gimmicks in the form of coupons, redemptions for special items, limited edition of certain souvenirs, buy one-get-one-free or issuing tickets or goodies with commemorative elements etc, are a must for marketers these days to generate noise for the product or brand and increase sales.”
It’s also worth noting that interest in collecting doesn’t seem to be a passing fad for Hong Kong people – on the contrary, people have maintained their collection habits for a minimum of three years to as long as 13 years. “We may be amazed by the long queues for redemption campaigns of special collectibles launched by marketers from time to time, however judging by the number of years people have kept the collection habit, they are clearly hooked,” Ms Lee observed.
Among all, the most committed are stamps collector, who have spent more than 13 years collecting them, followed by those how have spent more than 10 years collecting tickets and watches. (Table 2)
Given the limited and expensive living space in Hong Kong, where are collectors putting all of their goodies? In fact, 22 percent claim to have difficulty finding a place to store them. “While there is plenty of self-storage space on offer in the market, it would be the last resort for collectors, who usually want their great collections on display for occasional appreciation.” Ms Lee added.
In terms of the most favourite cartoon characters, while 12 percent of Hong Kong consumers, as well as 14 percent of females, named Mickey Mouse their most favorite cartoon figurine, mature consumers aged 40 years and above are equally into cartoon Mickey, with a particular high number of votes ecured among a third of people aged 35-54.
Doreamon follows closely, with one in 10 Hong Kong people choosing it as one of the favorite cartoon characters and more liked by men than women. Ranked a distant third, both Hello Kitty and Winnie the Pooh secured five percent of the total votes. In particular, both Hello Kitty (9%) and Winnie the Pooh (7%) are more appealing to females than the general population (Table 3)
The ACNielsen Telebus survey was conducted among 1,021 males and females in Hong Kong aged between 15-54 from September 12 to 16, 2005.
About ACNielsen
ACNielsen, a VNU business, is the world’s leading marketing information provider. Offering services in more than 100 markets, the unit provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behavior. Clients rely on ACNielsen’s market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns. To learn more, visit www.acnielsen.com.
Table 1
Table 2
Table 3
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