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Over half of respondents used their consumption vouchers mainly on nondurable goods, HKIBS survey shows
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Media Coverage:
嶺大揭過半受訪者消費券買食品、衣物等 平均額外消費800元以上 (15-01-2023, The Hong Kong Economic Times)
消費券調查 逾半人購非耐用品 (16-01-2023, The Hong Kong Economic Times)
嶺大消費券調查：逾半人購非耐用品 青年更願買耐用品 (16-01-2023, Ming Pao)
逾半受訪市民 消費券購非耐用品 (16-01-2023, Sky Post)
千禧年代 (17-01-2023, 香港電台)
消費券點用？嶺大調查指過半人買食品、衣物 平均額外消費咁多錢 (17-01-2023, HK01)
多聲道｜消費券應繼續派 更應作出優化 (01-02-2023, HK01)
Other Relevant Studies:
Hong Kong Electronic Consumer Vouchers: A Study on Consumers’ Intention to Receive and Use Consumer Vouchers
Hong Kong Electronic Consumption Vouchers: A Study on Wet Market Merchants' Intention to Participate the Consumption Voucher Scheme
Nearly 30 per cent of respondents install new electronic payment tools to receive digital vouchers, HKIBS survey shows
The Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies at Lingnan University (LU) conducted a survey about the Government’s 2022 (Phase II) Consumption Voucher Scheme, which concerns the second installment of the consumption vouchers disbursed on October 1, 2022. The survey found that more than half of the respondents spent consumption vouchers on nondurable goods (e.g., food, supermarket shopping, and clothing.), followed by services (e.g., dine-in or takeaway and travel services) and durable goods (e.g., electronics, furniture, jewelry, and luxury goods).
The research, entitled “The Hong Kong Electronic Consumption Voucher Scheme: A Study on Its Effectiveness in Stimulating Public Spending”, aims to examine Hong Kong citizens’ consumption patterns and extra spending behavior under the Scheme, along with an investigation into their attitudes towards the Hong Kong economy in 2023. The research team conducted a survey between mid-October and early November 2022, and more than 400 people who had received the consumption vouchers participated in this research.
The survey results showed that 54 percent of the respondents spent their consumption vouchers mainly on nondurable goods, followed by services (34 percent) and durable goods (12 percent). The respondents’ major consumption categories varied by gender, age, education level, and income. Sixty-four percent of the female respondents, compared to the male respondents (40 percent), spent more on nondurable goods than the other two categories. On the contrary, 46 percent and 13 percent of the male respondents chose services and durable goods as their major spending of consumption vouchers. The younger people (aged 30 or below) were more likely to use the vouchers to purchase durable goods than those aged 60 and above. Respondents with higher education or income level were more inclined to spend the vouchers on durable goods and less on nondurable goods.
The survey also revealed that, on average, the respondents spent an extra amount of over HK$800 when using the vouchers. Notably, the average extra spending of the respondents who mainly purchased durable goods was more than twice that of those who spent primarily on nondurable goods and services. Overall, the Scheme was effective in stimulating consumer spending and appeared to have a more profound effect in boosting the consumption of specific groups (i.e., females and those with higher education or income level).
It is also found that the Scheme helped improve the living quality of the respondents. The group that spent the vouchers primarily on durable goods reported a greater improvement in the quality of living than the other two groups who spent mainly on nondurable goods and services. With regard to the economic outlook, over half of the respondents (56 percent) were optimistic about the Hong Kong economy in 2023, while 31 percent held a more pessimistic view, and 13 percent had no opinion. These results reflect that more than half of Hong Kong citizens are optimistic about the future economy, despite the impact of the pandemic over the past three years. In particular, the respondents from mainland China were more optimistic than the local respondents.
The research team recommends that if the Government relaunches the Consumption Voucher Scheme in the future, it could issue consumption vouchers for use in specific categories. The Government could also refer to the consumption voucher scheme in mainland China and introduce consumption vouchers in the form that the recipients receive a discount or additional consumption vouchers if their spending reaches a certain amount. This way could unleash consumers’ purchasing power and boost the economy more effectively.
嶺大調查發現超過五成受訪者主要用消費券購買非耐用品
調查結果亦顯示，消費券計劃有助於提升受訪者的生活質素。以耐用品作為主要消費類別的受訪者認為消費券有助提升生活質素，比例上高於以服務類和耐用品作為主要消費的受訪者。五成六受訪者對於本港2023年的經濟持樂觀態度，近三成一的受訪者表示較為悲觀，另有一成三的受訪者則無意見，這反映了經過近三年疫情的衝擊，過半的香港居民對於經濟前景抱有信心。此外，相較於本地受訪者，來自中國內地的受訪者更為看好本港2023年的經濟。
研究團隊建議，政府如未來推出新一輪電子消費券計劃，可以考慮根據其具體目的實施針對不同商品類別的特定消費券。另外，亦可參照中國內地發放消費券的經驗，以消費達到特定金額後享有折扣優惠或者獲贈額外消費券的方式，從而更有效地刺激市民的消費意欲及帶動本地經濟。
Acknowledgement:
The research is supported by Lingnan University Innovation and Impact Fund (sponsored by the UGC Knowledge Transfer Fund)此項目為嶺南大學創新及效益基金支持項目(由教資會知識轉移基金贊助)