In China, men make up a higher proportion of luxury consumers than one may think, according to a Bain report.
When it comes to shopping for luxury apparel, Chinese men spent US$1.1 billion (RMB7 billion) on their wardrobes in 2010, far more than the US$439 million (RMB2.8 billion) spent by women.
In addition, Vinay Dixit, senior expert and leader of McKinsey Asia Consumer Center, told CNBC that over the past 12 months, Chinese men on average spent 61 per cent more than women on fragrances, and 52 per cent more on watches.
A pattern of new growth in the luxury consumer market is also emerging, confirmed by general findings from a whitepaper by MSL China. It identifies three types of female Chinese luxury consumers who are part of a large and growing, but untapped, segment in the mainland.
Of these, "desktop cinderellas" who are non-wealthy, white-collar professionals make up the majority, followed by "golden dolls" (second-generation entrepreneurs), and "trench coat tigers" (cosmopolitan career women).
For example, the character Lala from the movie “Go Lala Go!” is the typical portrayal of a "desktop cinderella", being a regular first-jobber rising through professional ranks and expressing herself with luxury fashion.
Despite the significance of this sub-group, many marketers know too little about them as most research on luxury consumers has focused on the vague “China's wealthy” demographic. According to MSL China, this definition is both too general and too narrow - as it neglects the younger, non-wealthy luxury consumers in China. In fact, each of the three sub-groups in the whitepaper strongly dislikes being perceived as “baofahu”, or the newly rich - a term usually associated with luxury consumers.
