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Updated Thursday, November 27, 2008 10:43 am TWN, CNA

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Survey: Consumer vouchers will help hypermarkets most

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A majority of Taiwanese believe the government’s consumer voucher program to help boost the domestic economy will help hypermarkets the most, according to the results of a recent survey released yesterday by the 104 Job Bank.

According to the survey by the online employment services provider, 65.2 percent of the respondents believe the vouchers valued at NT$3,600 to be issued to each citizen prior to the Chinese New Year holiday — which begins Jan. 26 — will help boost business at hypermarkets, particularly for daily necessities.

Second on the list was department stores and shopping malls, followed by restaurants and coffee shops, and sellers of 3C (computer, communication and consumer electronics) products, according to the survey.

The survey also found that 66.5 percent of consumers will boost their spending as a result of the voucher program, with 15.3 percent of the respondents saying they definitely will make more purchases, and 51.2 percent saying they most likely will do so.

A total of 32.2 percent of the respondents said they will not increase their spending, and instead will use the vouchers to subsidize their purchases of daily necessities.

On what kind of products they will most likely purchase with the vouchers, 54.2 percent mentioned daily necessities, 33.8 mentioned food products, 24.5 percent said clothes and accessories, 19.4 percent said they will use them to cover their transportation expenses, and 13.7 percent said computer hardware and software.

As for what would be the most appropriate amount in vouchers to stimulate consumer spending, the respondents’ answers as a whole averaged out to NT$9,206.

Asked what the best measure the government could adopt to stimulate consumer spending, 64.5 percent mentioned issuing consumer vouchers, 41.4 percent said offering a cash or tax rebate, and 33.7 percent mentioned lowering taxes.

The survey was conducted between Nov. 21-24, with a total of 3,631 valid samples being collected. It is said to have a 95 percent level of confidence with an accuracy of plus/minus 1.63 percentage points.

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