Women turned off by price-led campaigns

While this is not a surprise given rising levels of affluence, education and sophistication, MindShare regional director Annette Nazaroff said that some marketers were ignoring the fact that the game is changing, even when appealing to men.

Proliferating product choice and price affordability are driving the changes. "In Taiwan, some of the commercials are simple, basic and price-driven. Women won't respond to these types of ads. What attracts them is something stylish. The message is that marketers must consider their consumers and appeal to them in an appropriate way."

She added that the price-driven approach could elicit a response if the offer was "amazing", however, she added that differentiation would be the best method to encourage brand purchase and loyalty. The 3D study found that 32 per cent of women in Malaysia who strongly agree that they like to watch television commercials also always look for a brand name first when buying products, compared with 61 per cent in Australia, 36 per cent in Singapore, 73 per cent in Vietnam and 53 per cent in Indonesia.

In addition, 55 per cent of women in China who strongly believe the best brands spend money on advertising also agreed that top brands reflect a good image. The comparable figure for Thailand was 28 per cent.

The study also revealed television drama serials and magazines are the best media platforms to use when advertising to women.

For most markets, more than 40 per cent of respondents said they would relax with a magazine, while the figure for dramas is about 60 per cent or higher.

The proportion of women going on the internet ranges from a high of almost 60 per cent in Australia and Japan to a low of less than 10 per cent in Indonesia and India.

MindShare's 3D research was conducted in 10 markets - China, Taiwan, Japan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia - at a cost of US$3 million. It links consumers, brands and media habits to understand how people interact with brands and media channels. Nazaroff said that each interview with a respondent took about five hours. She said that women took the time to participate because the survey covered a wide range of issues which made it interesting.