Survey shows many spending less during Covid-19

A survey conducted by a research team from the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) indicates that nearly half of local residents have spent less money during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yesterday at MUST, the Institute for Sustainable Development released the results of the 2020 Macau Consumer Satisfaction Index. According to the statistics, a total of 48% of respondents reduced their expenditure during the global health crisis.
Between June 1 and 21, the institute interviewed 421 Macau residents. The respondents rated their recent experiences in shopping and dining in the SAR.
Conventionally, the research team studies how Macau residents consume experiences in both Macau and Zhuhai. However, this year the Zhuhai questions were not included, and the survey covered questions relating to expenses during Covid-19 and the Macau e-voucher period.
Among those who claim to have spent less money, 12.6% claimed a “great reduction” in expenses.
The results may not be surprising. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, many of the city’s workers, both residents and non-residents, have taken unpaid leave or received wage-cuts. Others have been made redundant.
The oldest ferry company in Macau, Turbojet, reduced the salaries of the majority of its employees by 8% to 12%. Between April and June, Macau recorded an unemployment rate of 2.5% overall, and 3.5% among local population.
In order to secure the local economy and employment, the local government launched the e-voucher scheme in February by issuing 8,000 patacas to each Macau resident.
A total of 69.1% of the MUST survey respondents said they were contented with the e-voucher scheme, while 26.6% held a neutral opinion, and 4.3% were unhappy with the scheme.
The survey only asked about the satisfaction level of respondents, but did not dig into the explanations behind each respondent’s answer.
With almost no tourists, Macau residents are happier with their shopping and dining experiences, according to the survey.
Compared to that of 2019, satisfaction when shopping for clothes increased by 7.9 percentage points, with the related factors – consisting of product quality, service quality and value – all recording better results.
Local diners also gave higher scores to Macau restaurants, with a 3.6 percentage points increase in satisfaction. Ratings of food quality, service quality and value concerning the dining experiences all received an increase in positive feedback.