Global Consumer Trends: Gender Complexity

Published by: Datamonitor

Published: Aug. 17, 2009

Table of Contents

Overview

Catalyst

Summary

Table of Contents

Table of figures

INTRODUCTION: THE IMPORTANCE OF TREND-TRACKING

Tracking consumer mega-trends is fundamental to long-term success

Trend-tracking insight 1: mega-trends can be classified in two ways according to desirable benefits and societal complexities

Trend-tracking insight 2: trends are aligned with pre-existing, but evolving human values, attitudes, needs and behaviors

Trend-tracking insight 3: mega-trends can be broken down into trends and sub-trends highlighting that trend frameworks provide structure and clarity at a time of 'information overload'

Trend-tracking insight 4: manufacturers, retailers and researchers/futurologists perpetuate trends

Trend-tracking insight 5: adopting a broader, global perspective to trend-tracking facilitates better decision making by overcoming 'category myopia'

Trend-tracking insight 6: trends have longer-term implications than fads and can be categorized by evolvement

Trend-tracking insight 7: for every trend there is a 'counter-trend' while 'trend-crossover' is also and important phenomena

Takeouts and implications: a trend framework boosts the quality and frequency of insight generation ensuring maximum return from the broader market research processes in place

THE FUTURE DECODED: DECIPERING THE GENDER COMPLEXITY MEGA-TREND

MEGA-TREND SYNOPSIS: GENDER ROLES IN MODERN SOCIETY ARE LESS CLEAR CUT, BREEDING NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN THE CPG SPACE

TREND: Hybrid traditionalism: male consumers values are characterized by an amalgam of both masculine traditionalism and feminized modernity

SUB-TREND: Embracing feminized values: males are becoming more aware and proactive towards their wellness needs

In Europe, male concerns for wellness issues closely follow those exhibited by their female peers

Males in the Americas are taking health and wellness issues seriously

Asia Pacific males closely mirror female attitudes and behaviors over health and wellness issues

While Middle Eastern men are now more aware of their wellness needs they are not necessarily embracing feminized values in the process

Key takeouts and implications: male consumers share similar attitudes and behaviors to their female peers in relation to wellness issues

SUB-TREND: Embracing feminized values: males are embracing appearance consciousness

Appearance consciousness is a significant factor affecting male behaviors across Europe

Attitudes towards appearance vary greatly between US males and their more openly feminized Brazilian peers

Differing cultural values mean that men in Asia Pacific are less image focused than their female counterparts and their male peers internationally

UAE and Saudi males embrace appearance consciousness but do so with little threat to their sense of masculinity

Key takeouts and implications: the commercialization of beauty now influences males as well as females' attitudes and consumption habits

SUB-TREND: The 'retrosexual': traditional machismo still resonates in the face of the feminization of society

Key takeouts and implications: The traditional masculinity associated with retrosexualism still has relevance for mainstream male consumers

SUB-TREND: The majority of male consumers are pragmatic, combining elements of traditional masculinity and the modern feminized values

Key takeouts and implications: Marketers must avoid excluding the male majority through myopic focus on conveniently tagged small sub-groups of male consumers

TREND: Female consumers are emancipated and empowered but still play out traditional gender roles

SUB-TREND: Females are expressing their independence, both at work and play

Women in Europe want to experience more satisfying leisure time, while performing to their potential at work

Women in the Americas, especially in emerging markets, are keen to seek out new challenges in life

Asia Pacific women are seeking more independence and new opportunities

Saudi and UAE women want, and are achieving, greater independence

Key takeouts and implications: Independent females can be targeted based on their experimental consumerism and convenience needs

SUB-TREND: Traditional female gender roles remain established elements of consumption behavior

Women remain predominantly in charge of domestic duties in Europe

Female domestic roles in the Americas reflect the clash between traditionalism and modern time pressures

Traditional gender roles retain significant importance in the Asia Pacific region in terms of both genders' expectations of the other

Traditional female gender roles are common in the Middle East

Key takeouts and implications: Marketers must meet the needs of traditional female roles with products providing shortcuts

TREND: Polarized gender values and attitudes are leading to a trend of 'role anxiety'

SUB-TREND: work-life pressures and stress are issues crossing gender boundaries

Europeans of both genders struggle with their work-life balance commitments

In the Americas, the emerging market consumers of Brazil are taking more decisive action to address their work-life balance issues than US consumers

In Asia Pacific, the experience of Chinese and Indian consumers starkly contrasts both genders in Japan

Stress issues are not as likely to cross gender boundaries in the Middle East

Key takeouts and implications: common work-life balance problems reflects the coalescing of male and female experiences inside and outside the home

SUB-TREND: Modern parenting roles and professional lives have blurred traditional gender responsibilities

European mothers are content with their family life but rate work highly

Gender responsibilities in the Americas have shifted to close the gap between men and women

Asia Pacific consumers are experiencing some changes to the gender role dynamic as strong, persistent traditional family values meet with modern influences

Gender responsibilities with regard to work and family remain more well-defined in the Middle East

Key takeouts and implications: Marketers face greater cross-over and ambiguity between males and females that affects preconceived ideas of gender targeting

APPENDIX

Definitions

Methodology

Further reading and references

Ask the analyst

Datamonitor consulting

Disclaimer

List 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: Trend tracking can be a source of (comparative) competitive analysis

Figure 4: Datamonitor's mega-trend framework helps set the agenda for the specific topics covered in the New Consumer Insight (NCI) research stream

Figure 5: Trend development is dictated by both 'consumer pull' and 'manufacturer push' and Datamonitor offers the intelligence tools to capitalize on this reaity

Figure 6: In a consumerist global culture, the broad consumption spheres/segments transcend borders

Figure 7: Several factors distinguish a trend from a fad

Figure 8: The diversification and increased overlap of consumers' gender roles underpins the Gender Complexity mega-trend

Figure 9: The majority of males are comfortable combining macho and feminine elements into their attitudes and consumption behaviors

Figure 10: The majority of European males are satisfied with their health in general

Figure 11: Europeans are generally placing more importance on their health than in the past

Figure 12: European males show above average levels of satisfaction with the nutritional quality of their diets

Figure 13: Male dieting is strongest in the more feminized male cultures of southern Europe

Figure 14: European males are more likely than the global average to be taking conscious measures to eat healthily

Figure 15: Russian and Swedish men are the least likely in Europe to place importance on exercise

Figure 16: UK female respondents were the least satisfied with their fitness levels in Europe

Figure 17: Attitudes to health vary by gender in both North and South America

Figure 18: Improving health has increased in importance to both men and women in the Americas

Figure 19: Men in the Americas were more likely to be satisfied with the nutritional content of their diet

Figure 20: Women are more likely than men to follow a specific diet plan

Figure 21: Women are more likely than men to be eating healthily most of the time

Figure 22: In the Americas, exercise is slightly more important to women than men in creating a sense of wellbeing

Figure 23: Men in the Americas were more likely than women in the region to profess satisfaction with their level of physical fitness

Figure 24: Indians are the most satisfied with their health in Asia Pacific

Figure 25: Indian males are particularly focused on improving their health

Figure 26: Indian males are the consumers most satisfied with their diets in Asia Pacific

Figure 27: Indian males are the most committed globally to following specific diet plans

Figure 28: Japanese males are the least likely to make regular attempts to eat healthily in Asia Pacific

Figure 29: Indians are the most satisfied with their levels of fitness in Asia Pacific

Figure 30: Exercising is considered important by the majority of Asia Pacific consumers

Figure 31: Saudi females are more satisfied about their general health then Saudi men

Figure 32: UAE men have attached more importance to maintaining or improving their health then UAE women over the last two years

Figure 33: Middle Eastern males exhibit higher satisfaction with the nutritional quality of their diet, a trend associated with their high rates of dieting and proactive attempts to eat healthily

Figure 34: Males in the Middle East exhibit above average adherence to diet plans

Figure 35: Both UAE and Saudi men are making more of an effort to eat healthily then UAE and Saudi women

Figure 36: Saudi males express a below average satisfaction with their physical fitness

Figure 37: European men are more satisfied with their body than women

Figure 38: European males are more satisfied with their personal appearance than females, explaining why greater female proactivity on appearance issues remains the norm

Figure 39: Around half of male Europeans place importance on feeling physically attractive

Figure 40: Looking good in day-to-day life is of varying importance to European males by nationality

Figure 41: The belief in the relationship between attractiveness and success in life is widely held amongst Europeans of both genders

Figure 42: European males are still demonstrating an attitude-behavior gap in taking active measures to improve their appearance compared to females

Figure 43: Fragrance use among European males correlates to the extent of male comfort with and uptake of feminized values

Figure 44: In the Americas, men were more likely than women to be satisfied with their own body shape

Figure 45: Men were slightly more satisfied than women with their own physical attractiveness

Figure 46: Women in the Americas are more likely than men to value feeling physically attractive as important in contributing to wellbeing

Figure 47: Women are more likely than men to find it important to look their best in day-to-day life

Figure 48: Majorities of both genders in the Americas view attractiveness as a driver in success/opportunities in life

Figure 49: Brazilian males are well above the global (and US) average for increasing time spend on personal appearance

Figure 50: Brazilians are very open to fragrance usage, contrasting their US counterparts

Figure 51: Both genders of Japanese consumers are unsatisfied with their body weight

Figure 52: Indians are much more satisfied with their appearance than the Japanese

Figure 53: Indian females are the most conscious of their attractiveness

Figure 54: Females in Asia Pacific are more concerned about looking good than males, particularly in China

Figure 55: The equation of attractiveness with success in Asia is most acutely pressuring Chinese and Japanese women

Figure 56: Both male and female respondents in India are concentrating more on looking good

Figure 57: Australian and Indian males are the most open to the use of fragrances, contrasting the cultures of China, Japan and South Korea

Figure 58: Saudi and UAE men are significantly happier with personal body weight and shape than their respective female counterparts

Figure 59: Male satisfaction with appearance with well above the global average in the Gulf

Figure 60: Middle Eastern men attach above average importance to looking good in day-to-day life

Figure 61: Belief in the association between attractiveness and success in the Gulf is on a par with the global average

Figure 62: UAE and Saudi men believe using fragrance products is important

Figure 63: Retrosexual advertising: Snickers ""Get Some Nuts"" campaign channels humorous depictions of the loss of masculinity and positions the product as the antidote

Figure 64: The majority of males are pragmatic, their attitudes and behaviors built on elements of both metro- and retrosexuality

Figure 65: Mini case study: The Bulldog brand is designed to appeal to masculine tastes, without being overtly feminine

Figure 66: Empowered female consumers still play out traditional female roles

Figure 67: Females globally are deciding their goals in life to a similar extent to males

Figure 68: Full time employment is the dominant working status for European females

Figure 69: Women are marginally more likely to find new life sensations important than men in Europe

Figure 70: Spanish women are more likely than males to have recently sought more sensations in life

Figure 71: While occupational success is important to European women, few feel they have achieved success in the workplace

Figure 72: Self expression is important to the majority of European women

Figure 73: Spanish females have particularly become leisure time maximizers in the past two years

Figure 74: Full time employment among women is high in the Americas, although homemaking is above average in the US

Figure 75: Brazilian women stand out regionally in their strong desire to seek new challenges and experiences

Figure 76: Brazilian women have been particularly proactive in the last two years in seeking new challenges and experiences

Figure 77: While women in the Americas consider occupational success as an important factor in their wellbeing, they are much less likely to express satisfaction with this area of their lives

Figure 78: Individuality and self-expression are more important to women than men in the Americas

Figure 79: The desire to maximize leisure time highlights the cultural difference between the work-focused US and Brazil

Figure 80: China has a highly emancipated female workforce compared to other countries in the Asia Pacific region

Figure 81: Both genders in the emergent Asia Pacific markets place much importance on sensation-seeking

Figure 82: Males in Asia Pacific have a greater increased focus on seeking new challenges

Figure 83: Women in Asia Pacific see work as essential to wellbeing but in contrast their satisfaction levels are low

Figure 84: Females value self expression slightly more than males in Asia Pacific

Figure 85: Japanese consumers stand out through their lower commitment to maximizing leisure time

Figure 86: Tradition and the gender divide within the workplace remains clear in the Middle East, although females in the UAE have a solid presence within full time employment

Figure 87: Over the last two years Saudi and UAE women have begun to attach much more importance to seeking new challenges and life experiences

Figure 88: Saudi women are unhappy about their level of occupational success

Figure 89: Average daily time-spend on all household tasks* (hours), by gender, in Europe, US and Asia Pacific, by country, 2007

Figure 90: Daily time spent on food preparation and consumption, (hours), by gender, in Europe, the US and Asia Pacific, 2007

Figure 91: Over 40% of females globally see being a housewife as unfulfilling

Figure 92: Women were more likely to cook meals from scratch than men in Europe in 2008

Figure 93: The recession has impacted peoples' home cooking trends, but women still cook more often

Figure 94: A small but significant proportion of women eat regularly on the go in Europe

Figure 95: A high proportion of European women do not like doing the housework

Figure 96: Many women in Europe look to minimize the time they spend doing housework

Figure 97: Italian women are particularly keen on getting someone else to do their housework

Figure 98: In 2008, women in the Americas cooked evening meals from scratch more often than men

Figure 99: The gender gap in scratch-cooking behaviors increased further in 2009

Figure 100: Regularly eating meals on-the-go is twice as common among Brazilian females than their US counterparts

Figure 101: Housework is disliked by around half of all consumers in the US and Brazil

Figure 102: The desire to minimize the amount of time spent on housework is particularly high among women in Brazil

Figure 103: Brazilian women, facing more labor-intensive housework than their US peers, are very enthusiastic about paying someone else to perform housework duties

Figure 104: Women predominantly cook home meals more than men in Asia Pacific

Figure 105: The recession has impacted the frequency rates of male and female home cooking in Asia Pacific

Figure 106: On the go meal consumption is particularly frequent among Indian females based on rising work-life balance pressures

Figure 107: Housework is not an enjoyable task for many females in Asia Pacific, especially Australians and Japanese

Figure 108: South Korean females are particularly keen on housework minimization

Figure 109: Many Indians of both genders would consider paying someone else to do the housework

Figure 110: Women do more of the cooking in the UAE and Saudi

Figure 111: Gulf region men are more likely to eat more regularly on the go

Figure 112: Role Anxiety a consequence of increased ambiguity over males and females' gender identity

Figure 113: Both genders globally place more importance on work than leisure time

Figure 114: Females in Europe have made greater efforts to improve work-life balance than males

Figure 115: More men than women believe their work-life balances have improved

Figure 116: Europeans are less optimistic than the global average about work-life improvements

Figure 117: Males have seen slightly more improvement to their stress levels than females in Europe

Figure 118: The majority of Europeans believe stress levels will not improve in the near future

Figure 119: Like work-life balance, females in Europe have been more proactive in taking steps to reduce stress in their lives

Figure 120: Both men and women in the Americas are looking to improve their work-life balance

Figure 121: Men were slightly more likely to claim their work-life balance had improved

Figure 122: Some optimism over work-life balance in the near future exists among consumers in the Americas

Figure 123: Men were slightly more likely than women in the Americas to have experienced reduced stress levels in the previous six months

Figure 124: Optimism for the reduction of stress levels in the near future in Brazil eclipses that in the US

Figure 125: US males have been less decisive compared to US females and Brazilians in proactively addressing stress

Figure 126: Consumers in India and China had made the most attempts to improve work-life balances

Figure 127: Males consumers in Asia Pacific believe they have achieved greater success in addressing their work-life balance than women

Figure 128: Chinese and Indian consumers are the most optimistic about future improvements to their work-life balance

Figure 129: Chinese and Indians were more optimistic than other consumers in seeing stress level improvements

Figure 130: Japanese consumers are the least optimistic about whether their stress levels will improve in future

Figure 131: Males and females in the Asia Pacific region have taken similar steps to reduce their stress levels

Figure 132: Saudi and UAE men were more likely to indicate that their work life-balance had improved over the last six months

Figure 133: Middle Eastern men and women are equally optimistic about their future work-life balance outlook

Figure 134: UAE women are most likely to indicate that daily stress levels have actually abated over the last six months

Figure 135: Regional women generally expect their levels of daily stress to reduce over the next six months

Figure 136: Both genders place overwhelming value of the importance of family in their lives

Figure 137: Men and women globally look positively on changes that give them more emphasis on their family life in the future

Figure 138: However, less emphasis on work is seen negatively by men and women equally, clashing with their desire for more family time

Figure 139: Russian consumers of both genders are less satisfied with their family life than other Europeans

Figure 140: Spanish females are particularly finding it more important to spend time with friends and family

Figure 141: Russians are the least satisfied with the time they get to spend with their children

Figure 142: US satisfaction with family life is above the global average in the US

Figure 143: The importance of spending time with friends and family has increased for many consumers in the Americas against the backdrop of recession

Figure 144: Women are more likely to be satisfied with the amount of time spent with children

Figure 145: Indians of both genders are the most satisfied with their family life in Asia Pacific

Figure 146: Japanese have changed the least in regards to valuing spending time with friends and family

Figure 147: Women tend to be more satisfied than men over time spent with their children in Asia Pacific

Figure 148: Gulf consumers, especially men, are satisfied with their family lives

Figure 149: Gulf women are increasingly prioritizing spending time with family and friends

Figure 150: Gulf women are noticeably more satisfied than men with the amount of time spent with their children

Figure 151: There are differences between consumer values and attitudes

Abstract

Introduction

The Gender Complexity Mega-Trend reflects that traditional gender roles are becoming increasingly blurred. Males are exhibiting more feminine traits in their attitudes and behaviors, while empowered females are breaking out beyond gender stereotypes. However, gender complexity also reflects how the shift in gender roles is not totally prescriptive: both genders' values are diverse and complex

Scope

• Detailed trend analysis outlining what constitutes 'value' for consumers (trends are, after all, a reflection of what's important to consumers)
• Global in focus, but also offers country-by-country and sector insights thereby catering to top-line or more specific information needs
• Covers all major FMCG sectors, but also with applicability to wider consumer goods audiences
• One of 10 dedicated mega-trend reports outlining the most important issues shaping global consumers' buying behavior both now and in the future

• 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
• Gender Complexity is founded on the contrast between the rise of feminine values and attitudes among men and a contrasting but prevailing ""boys will be boys"" mentality. Seemingly dichotomous, these are not mutually exclusive. Pragmatic male consumers base their attitudes and behaviors on 'cherry-picking' elements of both value systems as required
• Womens' growth as individuals in the workplace and rapidly rising sense of independence and individualism has left them grappling with the tension between modern and traditional roles. This role consciousness means that they are torn between embracing more individualistic feminization and more traditional caring, gatekeeper roles in the family unit

• Understand the significance of the different gender-aligned trends across territories and FMCG sectors to help support market diversification plans
• Save time and gain maximal insight by using this 'one-stop-shop' resource which offers a clear and up-to-date framework for understanding consumers
• Access data from two waves of global primary research to increase the likelihood of being 'on-trend' with NPD and marketing activities

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