Our respondent profile for June-July is Tran Nguyen Ngoc Tuyen, a 25 year old Real Estate agent from Ho Chi Minh City. Tuyen graduated with a Finance degree from the HCM University of Economics and at that time she tried to find a job that matched her studies. Her first job after university was as a sales manager for a fashion company, but then she changed her job to work as a Real Estate agent. Tuyen is still single and rents a small apartment which she shares with her brother who is studying at university. She earns over $600 per month and with this salary she can cover for all expenses, but she is a thoughtful person and she is always looking for ways to save money “we don’t know what will happen tomorrow, so having savings in the bank helps me feel more comfortable”.

Another important reason for Tuyen to save money is to start her own business in her hometown in Tien Giang province which is about a 2 hour drive from HCM. She thinks of a business because “the economy in my hometown is currently growing so there is potential for me to run my own business”. When asked about the National Economy Tuyen is very optimistic, “the economy has been recovering during the first haft of the year, especially in real estate’. Tuyen points out that the Real Estate market has had lots of transactions compared to the same time last year, ‘there is strong interest in buying houses for investment, which to me means that people also believe in the future of the national economy and because of that I believe that the economy will be in a stronger position at the end of this year.”

Although she shares her apartment, it is Tuyen who is responsible and takes care of the household including doing the laundry, cooking, cleaning and shopping. She normally does the washing 2 or 3 times a week using OMO washing powder. She has used this product for a very long time, so when thinking about buying detergent she will immediately think of buying OMO. When asked to explain why, she says “my mom used this washing powder, so it became a habit for me’, but Tuyen also agrees that the brand has a strong advertising presence and that it has many promotions which influences her purchasing intentions.

By international standards Vietnam enjoys a very low 2.1% unemployment rate as reported by the General Statistics Office. Nevertheless, over 70% of young consumers mentioned that currently there are few (or no) jobs available making job accessibility a major concern. To many young and well educated Vietnamese the real issue is to find a job that provides good conditions, pays well and fulfills their professional and career ambitions.

Detergent products are indispensable in the daily lives of Vietnamese people and in today’s market there is a myriad of brands and types of products available from local and foreign manufacturers. It is foreign brands such as OMO, Tide, Viso and Surf that hold the main market share compared to local brands (Lix, Net, Daso, etc). One of the main reasons for this is the innovation and rolex replica development foreign manufacturers do to create and improve products that satisfy the demanding local consumer. OMO and Tide have been available in Vietnam for nearly 20 years and currently they are the leading brands in the market, but in general the market for laundry products remains very competitive. Reportedly about half of Vietnamese households do their laundry on a daily basis; this level of interaction with the product highlights the degree of attention that consumers give to the range, availability, cost and quality of laundry products.