Hong Kong is the Only Country with Majority 'Save Now' Mindset

WE Online, Singapore - More than one in every four (27%) online consumers in Hong Kong say they "disagree completely" with the notion of enjoying life today and worrying about savings and investments later-the highest level among all countries surveyed globally-and a further one in four (27 percent) "disagree somewhat".

Looking at the other end of the scale: China has the highest proportion of consumers of all the APAC countries surveyed who agree overall with the "have fun now" mindset, standing at 38 percent in total. They are followed by the Australians at 32 percent.

GfK asked over 27,000 internet users across 22 countries to say how strongly they agree or disagree with the statement "I want to enjoy life today and will worry about savings and investments later". APAC countries covered in the survey included Australia, China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan.

Internationally, people with a "save now" mindset just outnumber people with a "have fun now" mindset, but the numbers are very close.  Hong Kong stands out as the only country where more than half of the online population show a "save now" mindset. In this country, 54 percent overall disagree with the idea of enjoying life today and worrying about savings and investments later.

Although a third (33 percent) of women internationally agree with enjoying life now and worrying about financial security later, a greater number (40 percent) disagree. Men, however, are more evenly divided with 36 percent agreeing and 35 percent disagreeing.

Online consumers aged 20-29 years old have the highest percentage of fun-lovers of any age group, with 41 percent agreeing with having fun now and worrying about saving later. Teenagers (15-19 years old) and those aged 30-39 years old come next – standing almost equal at 37 percent and 36 percent respectively. And a quarter (26 percent) of people aged 50-59 years old and 60+ years old also agree with living for today.

On the other end of the scale, the numbers showing a more ‘save now’ mindset increases fairly steadily with each age group. This starts at a third (34 percent) of both teenagers and 20-29 year olds and peaks at 43 percent of 50-59 year olds and 42 percent of those aged 60 and over.

Frans Janssen, APAC Chief Commercial Officer said, "These findings give finanical service brands a useful, top-level picture of the differences in attitude towards the concept of savings and investments across countries, age groups and genders, versus those that support a more 'live for today' mindset, such as instant-access accounts."