5 Oct 2018

China’s Beauty Services Market (1): Looks Increasingly

Matter
Chinese society is undergoing a new round of consumption upgrade as living standards
and people’s incomes rise. Findings of a survey conducted by HKTDC on China’s middle-
class consumers in 2017 reveal that consumption of leisure services by the mainland
middle class has grown rapidly. More than a third of the respondents to the survey said
they had visited beauty salons/spas for massage/facial/skin treatments in the past year.
The frequency of patronising related services also increased.

In view of the keen demand for beauty services on the mainland, HKTDC conducted focus
group discussions in three main cities [1] to assess how the attitudes and consumer
preferences for beauty services have changed since 2013, when a similar study was
conducted. The findings reveal that, for middle-class consumers, looks increasingly
matter, making them more eager to try beauty treatments.

Beauty Competition

Mainland consumers like big brands, particularly

brand name clothing. They regard high-end
clothing brands as a status symbol and display
their taste by wearing brand-name fashion.
Alongside brand awareness, the focus group
discussions also found that mainland middle class
consumers show a keen desire to look better.
Some of the comments from the discussions are
listed below:

“It’s the end of the world if we’re not vain.”

“Must keep ourselves glamorous.” Mainland consumers have shifted their
“Must look younger than people our age.” battleground from brands to looks after wearing
brand-name clothing is pretty much the norm.

New-generation consumers seem to be more concerned about their looks than the older
generation. They do not just seek to improve their own looks but compete with others
over their appearance. This implies that using beauty services is not just about achieving
a better appearance but also about outdoing others. Some focus group participants
admitted that they use beauty services in order to look younger than people their own
age. Competition among mainland middle-class consumers has shifted from clothing
brands to looks.

Receiving Praise for Young

The desire to turn back the clock and actually look younger than you are has changed the
nature of demand for beauty services. Traditionally, mainland consumers chose skincare
and anti-aging treatments, hoping to slow down the aging process. Now, however, new-

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China’s Beauty Services Market (1): Looks Increasingly Matter

generation consumers want treatments that do more than that and keep them looking
younger than their real age.

The focus groups found that mainland middle-class consumers were more eager than
before to receive praise for looking young. This has motivated them to upgrade their
consumption from basic skincare to high-end beauty services.

Keeping Up with Trends

Another factor influencing the nature of the demand for beauty services is the growing
influence of fashion. In recent years, new-style hi-tech beauty treatments have attracted
a great deal of attention. Celebrities such as movie stars, fashion influencers and key
opinion leaders (KOLs) have endorsed various new treatments they’ve undertaken,
making services such as medical cosmetology, ‘micro-cosmetic surgery’ and other
unconventional beauty services the trendy thing to have done.

Many of the focus group respondents said they regarded such high-end beauty services
as fashionable consumption. Keeping up with fashion and trends such as these is an
important component of middle-class life.

Career Needs

The focus group discussions also found that some

people had a more pragmatic reason for trying to
improve their looks. Views were expressed linking
appearance to success in the workplace. One
comment that was made was “I believe good-
looking people have more opportunities.”

Good looks have long been considered important

to being successful. But as people get richer and
competition intensifies in the workplace,
improving one’s own competitiveness by
enhancing one’s personal image and appearance Mainland consumers generally believe that good
is becoming increasingly important. looks translate into strong competitiveness.

Some respondents even claimed that they needed to look good just to get hired. One,
sharing her experience of a recent job recruitment interview, said: “The person in charge
of hiring told me that the company tends to hire people with better looks.”

Although this view was not the dominant one heard at the focus group discussions and
companies expressly looking to hire good-looking employees does not seem to be the
mainstream, it is obvious that views of this kind do exist among some high-paying
enterprises to some extent. This is what prompts employees to spend more money on
improving their looks.

Family Motivation

A large number of female respondents to the survey indicated that they use beauty
services to please their family. Many in the focus group discussions agreed with
statements like “my family takes a sense of pride in my good looks”, “children feel proud
when classmates say their mother looks beautiful”, or “my husband feels proud when

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China’s Beauty Services Market (1): Looks Increasingly Matter

others praise that I look young.”

Relaxing Mind and Body

Another mainly female motivation for consuming beauty treatments was the desire to
relax and be pampered. Many female consumers see beauty salons as a haven for
relaxation and a place to recharge their minds. However, compared with the 2013 study,
using beauty services as a means of relaxing mind and body has become markedly less
important among female consumers. It is also not a major concern for male consumers,
who set greater store by the functional aspects of beauty services.

[1] See Appendix for details of the focus group discussions.

Appendix

The focus group discussions took place in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu in mid-
March 2018. A total of seven discussions were held, with two female groups being held in
each city and one held in Shanghai for male consumers. The objective of the focus group
discussions is to further understand the changes in spending attitudes, pattern,
preferences and trends of mainland beauty services consumers by way of qualitative
analysis.

Design of Focus Groups

City Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu

No. of groups 3 in Shanghai, two for females and one for males; two each in Guangzhou and
Chengdu, all for females.

Profile of • Shanghai and Guangzhou: Monthly household income of RMB15,000 or monthly

participants personal income of RMB8,000 or more.
• Chengdu: Monthly household income of RMB9,000 or more, or monthly personal
income of RMB5,000 or more.
• Have lived in the city for two years or more.
• Visit beauty parlours for beauty services at least once a month.

Group Group 1 (eight people)

classification • Females, aged 25-35
Group 2 (eight people)
• Females, aged 36-45
Group 3 (eight people)
• Males, aged 25-40. Only in Shanghai

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