Vietnamese consumers ahead of global average on healthy and sustainable living

02/25/2021

 

Public opinion research conducted by GlobeScan and supported by Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, shows Vietnam ahead of the global average when it comes to adopting healthier and more sustainable lifestyle choices.

Across the world, people have faced exceptional circumstances and have been forced to adapt to a new way of life. In total, 27,000 people from 27 markets were asked about attitudes, opinions, and behaviors linked to enabling healthier and more sustainable lifestyles.

Key findings include the following:

Consumers in Vietnam are more likely to support socially responsible companies. 47 percent of those surveyed in Vietnam said they had supported a socially responsible company in the past year, against a global average of 33 percent.

People in Vietnam are much more likely to seek out information about healthy lifestyles. 82 percent of respondents said they had sought out information related to healthier lifestyles in the past year, well above the global average of 56 percent. 

Those in Vietnam display a significantly higher interest in environmentally friendly lifestyle choices. 81 percent said they had sought out information about environmentally friendly lifestyles in the past year, versus a global average of 47 percent. 

According to the survey, people in Vietnam are already taking proactive steps towards healthier and more sustainable lifestyles. 90 percent said they had made changes to their lifestyles to be more environmentally friendly in the past year, along with 87 percent who made changes to be healthier and 84 percent who stated they were trying to become more helpful to others.

Globally, the top behaviors that people are most interested in doing more of this year are: taking care of financial health and wellbeing (80 percent), saving energy at home (80 percent), reducing food waste (78 percent), taking care of mental health (78 percent), spending time with family and friends (78 percent), and eating healthy and nutritious food (78 percent).

Ms. Dang Tuyet Dung, Visa Country Manager for Vietnam and Laos said: “It is encouraging to see that consumers in Vietnam are already taking concrete steps to lead more healthy and sustainable lifestyles. At Visa, we are proud of our commitment to offering innovative products that not only improve people’s lives but also protect our environment. Despite the trying conditions brought forth by COVID-19, we look forward to working with our partners to cultivate affordable and easy-to-use solutions to the social and environmental problems we face.”

Despite those in Vietnam displaying a greater willingness to do their bit to improve their own lives, the lives of others, and the environment, there is still a gap between aspiration and actual behavior. Environmentally friendly lifestyle changes also show the same pattern. This lack of follow-through suggests there is an opportunity for guidance and solutions from key players across the world to enable healthier and more sustainable living. This is supported by a call for greater cooperation between companies, government, NGOs and scientists to find solutions to social and environmental problems.

When asked what companies could do to help them live healthily and sustainably, people in Vietnam list a desire for new products that are better for both people and the environment as a top priority while affordable products and services ranked second. With the importance of saving money, consumers rank reducing energy consumption and taking care of financial health and wellbeing as first and third in the list of top actions they would like to do more of in the year. With changes to income and financial stability in the wake of the pandemic, it is likely that the priority placed on affordability will intensify.

Findings from the study also show that people are put off by actions they believe are difficult. When trying to be healthier and more sustainable, they are most likely to alter aspects of their life if they perceive it to be relatively easy to do so. Typically, these behaviors link to improving personal wellbeing, ethical purchasing, and actions within the household (such as saving water at home, eating healthy food, choosing products with less packaging, and buying from responsible brands). When encouraging behavior change, evidence from this study identifies the importance of removing barriers and providing clear information.

 

 

Methodology Summary:

This research program builds on 20 years of GlobeScan’s public opinion research in the areas of sustainability, branding, and reputation, and is designed to help better understand the diverse mindsets of consumers that shape their barriers to (or serve enablers of) more healthy and sustainable living.

Survey sampling and data collection was achieved using best-in-class online consumer panels to survey approximately 1,000 adults in each of the 27 markets. Sampling was optimized to represent consumers per the latest census data for those aged 18 years and up.

Data collection took place in June 2020.

Participating markets include: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Thailand, the UK, the USA, and Vietnam.

About Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit  About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews.