Visa study: Vietnamese consumers ahead of global average on healthy, sustainable living

The study also shows that when trying to be healthier, consumers are most likely to alter aspects of their life if they perceive it to be relatively easy to do

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

The study finds that consumers in Vietnam are more likely to support socially responsible companies. 47 per cent of those surveyed in Vietnam said they had supported a socially responsible company in the past year, against a global average of 33 per cent.

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

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

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

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

“It is encouraging to see that consumers in Vietnam are already taking concrete steps to lead more healthy and sustainable lifestyles,” said Dang Tuyet Dung, Visa country manager for Vietnam and Laos. “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 challenging 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.”

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 when trying to be healthier and more sustainable, consumers are most likely to alter aspects of their life if they perceive it to be relatively easy to do so. Typically, these behaviours 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 behaviour change, evidence from this study identifies the importance of removing barriers and providing clear information.