Daily Research News Online no. 6155 - Growing Older is Not What it Used to Be

Growing Older is Not What it Used to Be

November 20 2006

World populations may be ageing, but consumers don't feel their age in the same way they used to, according to findings from ACNielsen. Majorities agree with the research firm's premises that 'your 40s are the new 30s' (60%), 'your 30s are the new 20s' (54%) and 'your 60s are the new middle age' (56%).

Nielsen asked consumers in 41 markets globally about their attitudes towards age and cosmetic surgery as they get older, and found a majority in agreement that modern lifestyles are helping older people 'turn back the clock'.

Women were slightly more likely to agree with the statements than men in all cases, by 6-8%. China and Hong Kong were notable exceptions to this trend, with significantly higher proportions of men agreeing than women. Overall, Japan and Korea lead the Asia Pacific region in terms of agreement with the statements.

David McCallum, MD of ACNielsen Customised Research Global, says agreement was strongest where people had current or most recent experience of the age group in question � for example 'people in their 20s and 30s were most in agreement that 30s are the new 20s � 59% of 25�34 year olds and 56% of 35�44 year olds agreed'. Similarly, 70% of those aged 45+ agreed that 'your 60s are the new middle age'. 'Living in the first decade of the 21st century, the goalposts have moved' says McCallum. 'Our perspective on what constitutes a 'young adult', 'old' or 'middle-aged' and the lifestyle and behavior appropriate to each of these phases in our lives has changed accordingly.'

One in five respondents were open to the idea of cosmetic surgery when they are older, with teenagers and 20 somethings most receptive worldwide. Russia ranked number one, with just under half saying they would, followed by Greeks and people in the Baltics. Korea (28%) was the only non-European market making the top 10 list. At the other end of the scale, 94% of people in Hong Kong would not consider surgery, followed by Indonesians (92%), Malaysians and Japanese (91%).

The ACNielsen Online Consumer Confidence and Opinion Survey is the largest half-yearly survey of its kind aiming at gauging current confidence levels, spending habits/intentions and current major concerns of consumers across the globe. The latest wave polled about 22,780 Internet users in late May/early June.

The firm is online at www.acnielsen.com .

Markets covered: Australia (Aus), Austria (AT), Belgium (Bel), Canada (Can), China (Chn), Denmark (Den), Finland (Fin), France (Fra), Germany (Ger), Greece (Gre), Hong Kong (HK), India (Ind), Indonesia (Indo), Ireland (Ire), Italy (Ita), Japan (Jpn), Korea (Kor), Malaysia (Mal), Netherlands (NL), New Zealand (NZ), Norway (Nor), Philippines (PH), Poland (Pol), Portugal (Por), Russia (Rus), Singapore (SG), South Africa (SA), Spain (Spa), Sweden (Swe), Switzerland (Swi), Taiwan (TW), Thailand (TH), Turkey (TR), United Kingdom (UK), United States (US), Czech Republic (Cze), Hungary (Hun), Vietnam (Vnm) and the Baltics (Bal) which covers Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.