Three Quarters Of Hong Kong Consumers Feel The Pressure To Look Good These Days
If Money was No Object, Better Skin for Hong Kong Women and Better Hairdos for Hong
Kong Men, The Ultimate Indulgence
April 3, 2007, Hong Kong: To maintain or enhance their looks, two thirds of the world’s consumers
focus on taking care of their hair - in conjunction with a daily skincare regime and regular facial
treatment – and if money were no object, they would spend more on body massages and teethwhitening
besides taking care of their hair, according to a study just released by The Nielsen
Company. In a recently released Global Consumer Report on Personal Grooming, Nielsen surveyed 25,408
internet users in 46 markets1 from Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and the Middle East about
their attitudes to personal grooming, what and how often they invested in beauty products and
treatments, and what they would spend, and on what, if money were no object. “According to the world’s consumers, having a bad hair day is simply not an option when it comes to
looking ones best. Sixty-four percent of consumers invest in daily, weekly or monthly hair care,
compared to just over half (53%) of those who follow a similar skincare regime,” said Ms Angel
Young, Executive Director, Client Solutions, The Nielsen Company, Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, nearly two thirds of Hong Kong people are currently ‘investing’ on skin Care regime,
Hair Care (53%) followed by Facial Treatment (37%) as the third most popular personal grooming
option that people will do monthly or more frequently in order to maintain or enhance their
appearance. “The pressure is on for people to look good in Hong Kong these days and is most shared among the
young people who have started their personal grooming habit much earlier than their parents did in
those days.” Ms Young added. “With the economy continues to perform, it is true that people will if
not already, become more generous in brushing up their appearance.” Hong Kong people are no doubt ahead of many international counterparts in terms of enhancing
their looks. Hong Kong ranks among the world’s top 10 markets with most people claim to be
investing on a host of personal grooming activities like Skin Whitening (2nd) , Teeth-Whitening (3rd),
Skin Care (5th), Body Massages and Exfoliations/Scrubs (8th). People in Asia Pacific, Thailand in particular, make a great effort to enhance their appearance
monthly or more frequently through Hair Care (66%), Skin Care (57%), Facial Treatment (40%) and
a host of other applications such as Body Massages, Skin Whitening, Eyebrow / eyelash tinting /
shaping and Teeth Whitening, compare to their counterparts in the North America, Europe and Latin
America. When broken down by gender, however, nearly three quarters of women considered a regular skin
care regime to be as important as regular hair care when it comes to looking well-groomed. Back
home, Hong Kong women are more into Skin Care with eight in 10 claimed to invest on it in order to
look good, followed by Hair Care, Facial Treatment and Exfoliation/Scrub each garnering 54 percent
of followers. It is interesting to mention that among the various options, Body Massages is the one
with more men (30%) in Hong Kong claimed to be taking than women (24%).
When Money Is No Object… When it came to what types of personal grooming consumers would spend more on if money were
not object, the sexes were in agreement that body massages would be the ultimate indulgence for
over half (54%), and particularly for over three quarters (76%) of South Africans, 73 percent of
Austrians, 71 percent of Czechs, Hungarians and Chileans…and 60 percent of women and 30-
somethings. 47% of Hong Kong people shared the same aspirations. In Hong Kong, 58 percent of people surveyed are most aspired to spend more on improving their
skin and hair respectively, along with having white and shiny teeth (48%) and pampering themselves
with body massages (47%) too! By gender, again Skin care (68%) tops Hong Kong women’s most
aspired-to personal grooming option if money was no object, followed by Facial Treatment (65%)
and Hair Care (55%). For men in Hong Kong however, it is better hair dos (60%), shiny white teeth
(52%) and better skin (50%) that are closest to their hearts if they could afford it. Three Quarters Of Hong Kong Consumers Feel The Pressure To Look Good These Days
If Money was No Object, Better Skin for Hong Kong Women and Better Hairdos for Hong
Kong Men, The Ultimate Indulgence While not a beauty treatment many people claimed to indulge in regularly except in China, where 38
percent claimed to do it daily, teeth whitening was particularly popular – if money were no object –
for around two thirds of Chileans, South Africans and South Koreans….and more than half the teens
and those in their 20s. Hair care is the third most aspired-to personal care regime for the world’s consumers, especially the
Thais (70s), Brazilians (67%) and people in the UAE (65%) if money were no object.
Meanwhile 52 percent of Koreans would lighten their skin, followed by a third in Taiwan, 28 percent
in the Philippines, a further 26 percent in China and 23 percent in Hong Kong if money were no
object. “Consumers around the world are becoming more sophisticated, which is reflected in their attitude to
personal grooming, making personal care an increasingly competitive sector for manufacturers,”
added Ms Young. “In particular, Hair and Skin Care is considered very important for all, generating
huge market potential for manufacturers. According to Nielsen Media, manufacturers of hair care
and skin care products spent more than US$6billion2 on advertising in Asia Pacific alone in 2005-6
representing a 12 to 15 percent increase year on year, and US$52.6 million (i.e. HK$410MM) was
spent in Hong Kong for the two categories.”
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