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Profiting From Consumer Mega-Trends in Asia Pacific: Convenience

Datamonitor
December 24, 2009
SKU: DFMN2539588

Abstract Table of Contents Search inside this report Related Reports

Countries covered: Asia

Introduction

This report takes the core Asia Pacific content from DMCM4691 and expands upon that to offer additional insight covering a wider selection of Asian countries

Scope

Detailed trend analysis outlining what constitutes 'value' for consumers (trends are, after all, a reflection of what's important to consumers)
Offers Asia Pacific focused insights, benchmarked against global sentiment, to cater for contextualized regional-specific information needs
Covers all major FMCG sectors, but also with applicability to wider consumer goods audiences
Part of Datamonitor's Asia Pacific mega-trend report series which outline the most important issues shaping current and future buying behavior

Highlights

Good trend-watching is about taking the bigger-picture approach. Adopting a broader global perspective to trend-tracking facilitates better decision making by overcoming 'category myopia'. Monitoring the broader FMCG environment will enable bigger picture learning that can be applied more specifically

A Datamonitor consumer survey in April/May 2009 established that less than half of consumers in Asia Pacific are satisfied with their work-life balance. This reflects a lifestyle imbalance that characterizes many contemporary lifestyles, especially as many of the region's market economies continue to grow beyond the global average

Various commitments and demands from work and personal/family life have contributed to the feeling of time-deprivation. People are looking for speed and convenience and anything that allows them to feel more in control of time

Reasons to Purchase

Understand the significance of the different Convenience-aligned trends across FMCG sectors to help support market diversification
Gain region specific consumer insight, including a clear and up-to-date framework for understanding Asia Pacific consumers
Access data from two waves of primary research to increase the likelihood of being 'on-trend' with NPD and marketing in the Asia Pacific region

Overview: Catalyst; Summary
INTRODUCTION: THE IMPORTANCE OF TREND-TRACKING: Tracking consumer mega-trends is fundamental to long-term success; THE FUTURE DECODED: DECIPHERING THE CONVENIENCE MEGA-TREND; MEGA-TREND SYNOPSIS: Consumers feel the need to manage a plethora of competing demands on their time; TREND: Lifestyle Claustrophobia: time scarcity and time compression increasingly characterize the lives of Asia Pacific consumers and influence the consumption choices they make; TREND: Practical Personal and Household Aesthetics: Asia Pacific consumers value the opportunity to adopt simplified, less time intensive personal and household care routines; TREND: Mealtime Stress and Simplification: simplifying meal preparation and consumption remains a lifestyle reality for many time-poor consumers in the Asia Pacific region; TREND: Mealtime Fragmentation, Informality and Expediency: Asia Pacific consumers are adopting a more flexible and informal approach to food preparation consumption; TREND: Efficient Shopping: convenience needs impact upon store selection and in-store behaviors in Asia Pacific
APPENDIX: Definitions; Methodology; Further reading and references; Ask the analyst; Datamonitor consulting; Disclaimer
TABLE OF FIGURES: Figure 1: Datamonitor’s mega-trends are having a long-term and substantive impact on the marketing landscape and can be grouped into two categories; Figure 2: Consumer behavior and the innovations targeting it inevitably fit into a ‘trend hierarchy’; Figure 3: Datamonitor’s mega-trend framework helps set the agenda for the specific topics covered in the New Consumer Insight (NCI) research stream; Figure 4: Trend tracking can be a source of (comparative) competitive analysis; Figure 5: Trend development is dictated by both ‘consumer pull’ and ‘manufacturer push’ and Datamonitor offers the intelligence tools to capitalize on this reality; Figure 6: In a consumerist global culture, the broad consumption spheres/segments transcend geographical borders which is another reason why adopting a broader approach is necessary; Figure 7: Several factors distinguish a trend from a fad; Figure 8: Convenience is driven by the need to create more time for oneself; Figure 9: There are more than 15 major convenience-orientated trends influencing FMCG consumers; Figure 10: There are at least two broad dimensions of convenience; Figure 11: Variable holiday entitlement and a failure to utilize the full entitlement is prevalent across the globe and reflects the ongoing struggle to be ‘leisure time maximizers’; Figure 12: Datamonitor has identified five major categories for individuals’ time-spend which vary in influence across different countries and regions; Figure 13: Less than a third of Korean parents believe they are spending enough time with their children which is considerably lower than the global average; Figure 14: The overwhelming majority of Chinese and Indian consumers rely heavily on products and services that can save them time; Figure 15: Indian consumers in particular have come to value convenience as a priority for their CPG choices; Figure 16: Australians are particularly skeptical about anti-aging claims made by beauty brands; Figure 17: Indian consumers express more trust in the performance claims of FMCG brands; Figure 18: A general dislike of carrying out household chores is driving the market for convenient products; Figure 19: Portable beauty products continue to emerge across the range of personal care categories; Figure 20: In Asia, convenient personal care products are easy to use and lightweight; Figure 21: Indians far surpass the global average for the stated growing propensity to spend more time on their personal appearance in 2008; Figure 22: With widespread agreement that they do not have the desired time to spend doing housework, consumers across the Asia Pacific region consider it highly important to minimize the amount of time spent doing it; Figure 23: Only a third of Japanese consumers are highly influenced by the time-saving benefits of household cleaning and laundry products; Figure 24: Products that streamline and simplify household chores are gaining popularity in the region; Figure 25: Indian and Chinese consumers both still wash clothes more regularly by hand than by machine; Figure 26: Attitudinally, Indians and Koreans prefer to outsource their household chores to other people; Figure 27: Improvements in the quality and healthfulness of convenience foods and beverages are making consumers more likely to consider them as viable options; Figure 28: According to the US Potato Board, the market for microwaveable potato products in Japan has grown 60-70% since Heinz introduced its microwaveable fries called “Range Potatoes” in December 2006; Figure 29: Nearly a third of Indian and Australian consumers microwave meals at least five times a week, but Koreans still prefer a more traditional method of preparation; Figure 30: Easy-to-make meals for consumers in Asia Pacific are becoming highly prevalent; Figure 31: In November 2008, the first microwaveable Halal frozen ready-to-eat Malaysian meals were launched under the Sri Kulai brand; Figure 32: Consumption of pre-prepared meals is particularly prominent in Korea, although the economic crisis has sparked a resurgence in scratch cooking recently; Figure 33: Given the tendency of Koreans to consume a lot of convenience foods, it is little surprise that their habits are most impacted by the global economic crisis; Figure 34: Mother’s tailor-made shopping and ingredient delivery service in Singapore makes home cooking easier and more convenient; Figure 35: Take-away meals eaten at home are far more popular in India than anywhere else globally; Figure 36: Many consumers do not feel that they have the time to prepare and eat ‘three square meals a day’; Figure 37: Indians are particularly prone to skipping meals in the evening; Figure 38: On-the-go consumption occurs when consumers are engaged in other activities or in environments not particularly suited to food or drink consumption; Figure 39: In the Asia Pacific region, Koreans are the most prevalent consumers of meals when on-the-go; Figure 40: A growing number of products cater to time-starved office workers who consume meals at their desks; Figure 41: Indian and Chinese consumers are highly interested in healthier convenience foods and drinks; Figure 42: Chinese, Japanese and Korean consumers appear generally satisfied with the size of portions that they consume so are not making concerted efforts to eat and drink smaller portions; Figure 43: Indian consumers feel a considerable amount of guilt about their snacking habits; Figure 44: Indian consumers express the most guilt about snacking of any consumers in Asia Pacific; Figure 45: Top-up shopping has made buying groceries a more efficient experience for some consumers; Figure 46: Palengkenito is a mobile mini-market in the Philippines that converts minivans into grocery stores, literally delivering the convenience store concept to consumers; Figure 47: Consumers in Asia Pacific generally want grocery stores to be close to their homes; Figure 48: Two thirds of Indian consumers have become more reliant on grocery shopping since the beginning of 2008; Figure 49: Only Indians prefer to top-up shop at small local grocers compared to larger supermarkets; Figure 50: Australian and Japanese consumers overwhelmingly prefer to perform large grocery shopping trips at supermarkets or hypermarkets; Figure 51: Consumers in Asia Pacific are more attentive to new products than in both Europe and the Americas although a passive mentality still characterizes ‘auto pilot’ shoppers in the region too; Figure 52: Consumers in China, India and Japan are comparably more prone to wandering around the grocery store in no particular order; Figure 53: Indian and South Korean consumers believe that there is not enough time when shopping to read and understand food labels; Figure 54: With the exception of Australians, consumers in Asia Pacific have utilized the internet with increasing regularity to facilitate shopping in different product sectors; Figure 55: There are differences between consumer values and attitudes

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Profiting From Consumer Mega-Trends in Asia Pacific: Convenience

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