Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the vainest man of all? Eager to find out, we asked nearly 3,000 males about their grooming habits and attitudes to vanity. Respondents were aged 15-64 years and came from all socio-economic classes.

 

This study was conducted in the Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan (we also asked US males some questions). The results strongly suggest that the pretty boy mindset is pretty strong and might lead to some pretty good opportunities for marketers.


Everything begins with sex

 

Respondents were asked how much they agree with the statement, "I consider myself sexually attractive." In Asia, those most in agreement with this statement were Filipino males, 48% of whom rated themselves sexy. Their confidence level was still below US males, of whom 53% agreed or strongly agreed that they were sexy things. Third were Singaporean guys with only 25%. And those with the lowest sexual self-esteem came from Hong Kong with only 12% agreeing or strongly agreeing.


Are looks important?

 

We also asked respondents "how important are your looks to you?" Overall, most men surveyed agree that their looks are important to them. Again the Philippines scored highest, with 84% saying very or quite important. Taiwan males scored lowest with only 35% of respondents agreeing their looks were important.

 

Oddly, although a below-average 45% of Korean men agreed that their appearance is important, 85% said they carried a personal grooming kit with them every day. Apart from 22% of Filipinos, carrying an appearance repair kit is almost unheard of anywhere else in the markets surveyed.


Love me for myself

 

The study also probed motives for looking good. Respondents were asked to agree or disagree with the statements, "I like looking good for myself," and "I like looking good for others". In every location except Taiwan, men agreed that they looked good for themselves more than they looked good for others. The difference was significant in the Philippines, where 91% of men agreed they looked good for themselves compared with 58% liking to look good for others.

The clean and the mean

Question: On average, how many times do you take a shower or bath on weekdays? How about weekends?

Question: And how many minutes do you spend in the bath/shower each time during weekdays? How about on weekends?



Products for peacocks

 

OK, we know that a significant percentage of males in Asia are quite vain about their looks. So what do they buy the most of? Let's look at just a few of the 25 categories we surveyed…

Facial cleaner foam is quite popular, especially in Singapore where it is used by 36% of men. A quarter of the males surveyed in Hong Kong use it too. Only 12% of Korean men use it, but the guys there really go for moisturiser — 67% of them to be exact.

Men in China aren't much into products that are traditionally used by women, with one notable exception… 55% of them use some sort of whitening soap. Skin whiteners are mostly scorned by other males in Asia.

Taiwanese men are big on teeth, with 53% using dental floss, almost double the consumption of the next biggest users (Hong Kong). There's a lot of scope for dental floss sales in China, where it has only 8% usage among men.

Men don't use toner much anywhere except Korea, where it's applied by 57% of respondents.

A significant number of Hong Kong and Taiwanese men, 59% and 61% respectively, have love affairs with blow driers — only 2% do in the Philippines. Mousses and gels are quite popular everywhere, especially in Korea.


Beautiful opportunity

Overall, the results of this survey should be quite encouraging to marketers of beauty products. Although acceptance of traditionally female cosmetics products is, ahem, spotty, some of these products are very widely used in individual markets. The most traditional of male cosmetics, shaving creams and lotions, are purchased by between one fifth and one third of all markets.

 

So the bottom line is… Asian men increasingly want to look after their looks, and are prepared to spend to do so.