Sales of male grooming products in Asia are now growing faster (9 per cent in 2013) than the beauty segment (5 per cent) and the personal care category as a whole (6 per cent), according to research from Kantar Worldpanel. Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan show the strongest growth. The fastest-growing male grooming products across Asia are soap bars (212 per cent), shampoo (39 per cent) and liquid bath products (33 per cent).
The study reveals huge opportunities for brands to enter the market or grow their share. Regardless of age or income level, nearly 80 per cent of men in Asia claim they care about their looks. However, the value share of the ‘for men’ segment in the personal care category is just 4 per cent, with many men still using whatever they find in the bathroom. This highlights an opportunity for personal care brands to launch new variants specially designed for male users, particularly in the shampoo, cleansers, oral care, skincare and personal wash segments.
The opportunity for international brands to get a foothold in the Asian market is clear – while Korea is very proud of items that are ‘Made in Korea’, consumers in Vietnam, Indonesia and China are more open to foreign brands.
Ashley Kang, Asia’s Regional Director of Beauty at Kantar Worldpanel said, “With 748 million men aged over 15, the potential consumer base for male grooming products in Asia is huge. Brands need to find innovative ways to meet needs and preferences, both across the region and in individual countries – for instance, producing multi-pack soaps that contain both ‘for women’ and ‘for men’ variants. They also need to know how best to connect with men in Asia; communicating messages about status and looking professional is likely to hit home in the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, for example. The potential rewards of investing in understanding the market are very exciting – we estimate the size of the prize to be USD 6 billion.”
The research highlights indicate:
Men care about their appearance. The biggest driver for grooming is that it “makes me feel better and more comfortable”. In China 73 per cent of men pay attention to their appearance “because women like it”, while in the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysian they feel it’s important to their job. Higher income consumers in China (70 per cent) are more appearance-conscious that low-income consumers (61 per cent), because they see it as an indicator of social status.
Half of Asian men are concerned about having dandruff – but only 70 per cent of those use anti-dandruff shampoo. The concerns men have about their appearance vary regionally: bad breath is an issue for high-income Chinese men, as well as male consumers in Indonesia and Vietnam, while almost half of low-income Chinese men and 46 per cent of Filipinos are worried about acne. Many North Asian men worry about excessive sweating, but 80 per cent of those don’t use a deodorant.
Not only for women – 62 per cent of Asian men believe that using grooming products is not only for women.
Men use seven grooming products on average – yet only three are exclusive ‘for men’ variants, most commonly in the skincare and shaving segments. Skincare products are used by 70 per cent of Asian men, mainly in North Asia. Those in Indonesia and the Philippines use on average just one skincare product, while Chinese and Korean men use three. Facial cleansing is the most popular skincare segment. ‘For men’ shampoo is growing strongly, at 39 per cent, but is still only bought by24% of male consumers. Sales of ‘for men’ shower gel grew 33 per cent in the last year, but penetration is just 11 per cent.
‘Inner beauty’ also matters – 60 per cent of Asian men exercise regularly, 49 per cent take vitamin supplements and 36% have dieted in the past six months, most for health reasons.
Kantar Worldpanel interviewed 5,300 male consumers across China, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
