( dpa )- Hong Kong shoppers are the most fashion-conscious consumers in the Asia Pacific region, with 40 per cent confessing that they shop for designer products, according to a survey published Monday.
The percentage compares to a regional average of just 15 per cent, according to the survey which found that wealthy Hong Kong shoppers are second only to the Greeks as the world's biggest consumers of luxury brands.
Shoppers in the wealthy city of 6.9 million admitted to spending an average of 6,000 Hong Kong dollars (771 US dollars) over the past three months on luxury brand items.
Thirty-one per cent of people interviewed said they had bought Gucci products while 27 per cent said they bought Louis Vuitton and 26 per cent Burberry, higher percentages for each brand name than in any other market.
The most sought-after brand emerged as Louis Vuitton with 40 per cent of Hong Kong people saying they would buy the brand if money was no object, followed by 30 per cent who named Gucci, 26 per cent who named Burberry and 24 per cent who named Prada.
Yvonne Lum, Hong Kong-based director of retailing research for the Nielsen market research company which conducted the survey, said people's appetite for luxury goods in the former British colony showed no sign of abating.
"With the improving personal financial status of Hong Kong people and an increasing number of tourists who love to shop for luxury brands in Hong Kong because of the absence of sales tax, there is huge room for growth in the luxury sector," she said.
Globally, the survey found that people in Greece are the biggest buyers of branded items, with 46 per cent admitting to shopping for designer products. Hong Kong was second followed by India where 35 per cent do so.
Nielsen interviewed 27,000 people in 48 countries, including 500 in Hong Kong, for its survey, but did not reveal the ratio of women to men among respondents.