Part of a regional Wonders of Women research by OMD, the study found that 80 per cent of respondents in China claimed to have switched brands at least once or twice in the past 12 months compared to only 56 per cent in Malaysia.
Florence Oong, OMD's director of communications insights for Asia, noted that women in China prefer ads that are aggressive in selling their product benefits, in particular for skincare, but would not hesitate to drop the product, give it poor word-of-mouth ratings and switch brands immediately if the product failed to meet their expectations.
Florence Oong, OMD's director of communications insights for Asia, noted that women in China prefer ads that are aggressive in selling their product benefits, in particular for skincare, but would not hesitate to drop the product, give it poor word-of-mouth ratings and switch brands immediately if the product failed to meet their expectations.
Synovate polled 1,032 women between 20 and 49 years in five mainland cities, covering the three first-tier cities plus Wuhan and Shenyang. "Women in what we normally term as second-tier cities are equally in sync with their peers in Shanghai and Beijing with regards to shopping, fashion and beauty," said Oong. "However, the main impediment to the lifestyle they aspire to is money."
The study clustered women in five segments to reflect variations in product and media consumption as well as lifestyle. The highest numbers of the 'Cosmo girl' cluster (17 per cent for Asia) were found in China, at 21 per cent. The Cosmo Girl is career-oriented, believes in the power of money, is tech-savvy, but is also a discerning consumer who evaluates her purchases.
The 'Life seeker' cluster formed the largest group in China, at 33 per cent against the regional score of 22 per cent. 'Life seekers' are the most impulsive when it comes to branded buys and are less likely to worry about their future.
