Due to High Inflation, Reduced Purchases of Luxury Goods and Clothing... Even Snacks and Alcohol Consumption Declined

Lotte Members Research Platform Lime Survey Results

Research platform Lime logo. (Photo by Lotte Members)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Recently, as high inflation persists, consumers have been buying fewer luxury goods and clothing/fashion accessories, and have also reduced their consumption of snacks, bread, and alcohol.

According to a survey conducted by Lotte Members through the research platform Lime from May 11 to 25, targeting 1,000 adult men and women nationwide (with a sampling error of ±3.1% at a 95% confidence level), the item most quickly cut back on due to price burdens was luxury goods (26.1%). This was followed by clothing/fashion accessories (25.8%), electronics (11.6%), cosmetics/perfume (9.8%), and sports/leisure goods (9.1%).

More than half of respondents (51.8%) identified food as the item they reduced consumption of the latest. The items with reduced consumption included snacks (15.6%), bread (15.3%), meat (12.9%), alcoholic beverages (12.0%), coffee/beverages (10.1%), health functional foods (9.7%), and fruits (8.4%), in that order.

By age group, those in their 20s reduced bread consumption (17.0%) more than snacks (11.0%), and had the highest response rate for reducing alcohol consumption (16%) among all age groups surveyed. Those in their 30s and 40s reported relatively lower reductions in alcohol consumption (10.6%, 10.9%). Instead, people in their 30s reduced coffee/beverages (11.1%) and fruits (10.0%) more, while those in their 40s cut back more on coffee/beverages (12.9%) and health functional foods (11.4%). The 50s age group reduced snacks (17.0%) and health functional foods (11.5%) the most among all surveyed age groups.

A Lotte Members official stated, “As the recession hits, consumers are closing their wallets except for essential items, but when it comes to food directly related to health, they are selectively consuming according to their own situation and preferences rather than cutting back indiscriminately. In particular, those in their 20s are taking better care of their health and body shape by reducing alcohol consumption more and cutting back less on health functional foods compared to middle-aged and older groups.”