I was in Heathrow Terminal 5 the other day, and I came upon the realization that everyone shopping the premium brands was a non-English speaking Asian person. I encountered the same thing taking a walk on Saville row (literally just to look at the stores, I don't have that kind of buying power).
My Dad basically told me welcome to the new normal, the Asian's are destroying us (I'm an American) and their buying power and upper class has increased significantly. Another friend of mine goes so far as to insist the Chinese government encourages and sponsors the spending as a show of power.
Just striking up some debate. Maybe I should learn Mandarin...
Well there's certainly huge wealth growing in China at the moment, but I think its just a gradual normalization between the huge wealth gap of past, which is why its startling that there's a lot more "Asians" nowadays spending.
Having said that, I highly doubt that the Chinese government would encourage spending as a show of power, but I think for the new rich in China, who literally came from poverty just 20-30 years ago, conspicuous consumption is certainly a way of life for many. Traveling through many of the new hotels in major cities, you find there is a distinctive Chinese style that is generally more extravagant and loud. I was in a group of Chinese tourists who mentioned that Hong Kong hotels were becoming more "Chinese" with the above characteristics.
Salary differences are absolutely massive for professionals between Asia and the US. You are seeing business owners at airports.
Or google "selection bias"
In my experience, luxury shopping habits are also highly influenced by cultural norms. While not always the case, the few wealthy [female] Asians I know place a lot of self worth on outward displays of success. Louise Vuitton handbags are one way to demonstrate this. While many of my American friends do the same thing, the ratio is far less.
brand names are much more expensive in china due to tax issues. Thus, they prefer buying luxury items when they can while in the west.
I was in Asia recently. Chinese people travel to Hong Kong malls to purely shop luxury items because the prices in China is ridiculously marked-up. Luxury cars, cloths, iPAD are actually more expensive than the U.S.
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