WHAT WOMEN WANT

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Compared with their mothers, contemporary women are juggling the demands of family and career in a lifestyle that's complicated, frantic and aspirational.

But despite this, there are enough similarities to speak of between mothers and daughters. According to a Universal McCann survey, these constants include aspirations for a comfortable life and family security, in contrast to men's emphasis on career goals.

But, as women are achieving their goals in a different way, their purchase and consumption patterns have however become more varied.

Dave McCaughan, McCann-Erickson regional director of consumer learning, says that women with children are unlikely to place themselves ahead of their family's needs.

The big change in Asia has been when women starting having children - from about 20 years old two decades ago to around 30 these days.

"This is giving rise to a new and growing class of consumers: a woman in her 20s who lives at home with her parents and who spends most of her money on herself," McCaughan adds.

Which may explain why a large number of women in Asia don't know how to cook.

"The basic concept of their lifestyle has changed and this will influence them on what to buy," he says.

Maximize Hong Kong general manager Cecilia Chan observes that today's women are constantly wrestling with dilemmas on family versus career and security versus challenge.

"Women's basic instinct is to family and security but as they go out to work they find that they can satisfy those basic needs through their career," she says.

Marketers targeting career women should keep this point in mind, she adds.

The McCann study also found that television plays a big role in the lives of mothers, because TV is something that the whole family can enjoy. Single women, meanwhile, are more likely to reach for a magazine.

McCaughan said the difference could be attributed to money and priorities.

"Unmarried women, generally, will have a higher spending power so they can buy things like magazines and they will also have the inclination to spend on things to enhance their careers - studies, cosmetics and fashion."

However, McCaughan also stressed that married women, whether they were working or not, also want their own space.

"They want an identity of their own and the freedom to move. Focus group studies over the past five to seven years has increasingly found one trend - that women don't want to live in the shadow of their husbands."

COMFORT AND SECURITY: KEY ASPIRATIONS 
PRIORITY RANKING INDIA CHINA HONG KONG S'PORE 
A comfortable life 49.6 50.3 46.3 52.3 
An exciting life 25.6 17.6 22.0 19.1 
Sense of accomplishment 30.6 21.8 18.2 16.2 
A world at peace 40.3 34.9 33.0 38.7 
A world of beauty 25.5 23.9 14.4 10.6 
Equality 29.8 26.6 13.9 16.7 
Family security 41.7 54.5 41.9 54.7 
Freedom 32.1 42.4 37.5 33.7 
Happiness 45.4 48.1 62.0 60.4 
Inner harmony 16.7 26.2 25.3 28.1 
True friendship 18.3 27.6 25.3 22.7 
SOURCE: Media in Mind (Universal McCann)