Mainlanders no longer buy into allure of HK brands

Hong Kong brand names are becoming less attractive to mainland and overseas shoppers, a Polytechnic University study on local retail services has found.

In the study by the university's faculty of business, the overall score for service quality rose marginally from 99.5 in the January-February period when a similar poll was done, to 99.8 in July and August. The index benchmark was set at 100 in September last year.

The latest study interviewed 2,292 local and overseas shoppers in July and August to understand their perceived values of the city's retail sectors. The group had collectively shopped in more than 300 retail outlets in the city, including chain stores such as Giordano, Luk Fook and Watson's.

The study's brand image quality index has fallen from 101.2 to 99.2. It attributed the drop to the realisation among mainland visitors that Hong Kong brands were not as sophisticated as they believed, and because more Hong Kong and international retailers are opening shops on the mainland.

Study co-ordinator Sherriff Luk Ting-kwong said: 'Many tourists complained that they spent more time waiting and needed to put greater effort into shopping than desirable.'

The study also found a deterioration in the perceived Putonghua ability of frontline employees.