The survey revealed respondents from Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and China were willing to pay more for items that observe fair trade rules, environmentally friendly or with part of the sale donated to a charitable cause.

This trend was in sharp contrast to 2009 and 2011 when South Korea was the only country that showed an increase in consumers (+7%) willing to pay a percentage of sales for a good cause. Drops were recorded in China (-25%), Taiwan (-19%), Japan (-18%), Hong Kong (-15%) and Singapore (-11%).

In 2011 shoppers were also less inclined towards eco shopping when compared with 2009 – Japan (-26%), China (-23%) and Hong Kong (-19%). The drop was most obvious in Taiwan,  – from 71% in 2009 to 40% in 2011. South Korea (18%) and Thailand (4%) were the only two countries, which recorded increase in respondents willing to pay for items based on fair trade principles.

Thailand led consistently with the highest proportion of respondents (94%) basing their purchases on fair trade principles, above China (88%) and Indonesia (87%), with Australia (37%) and New Zealand (36%) ranked lowest.

Japan, despite being impacted heavily by natural disasters in 2011, saw a rise in terms of charity donations (42%), indicating its nationals were contributing to a charity as opposed to 20% in 2010. In addition, 35% said they were contributing more to charity this year compared with 2010.

Thailand, which was affected by recent flooding, also showed more willingness to donate with 31% saying they would contribute more this year than last year.

Socially responsible merchants also attracted respondents in the Philippines (76%), Indonesia (76%), Vietnam (78%) and Thailand (82%), when making purchases. However, this is less so for respondents in Hong Kong (45%), Japan (39%), and South Korea (46%).

“The latest MasterCard survey demonstrates that consumers are conscious and wary of the current economic climate, and they continue to display a sense of responsibility about the products they are purchasing,” said Georgette Tan, group head, communications, Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa, MasterCard Worldwide.

Note: The MasterCard survey was conducted via online interviews between December 5, 2011 and January 6, 2012 and involved 12,500 consumers from 25 markets across Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

• Photo courtesy of Tourism Malaysia