New Study On Asia Lifestyle Consumer Reveals Five Main Consumer Personas

A new report, “Asia Lifestyle Consumer Profile 2022", reveals five leading consumer personas driving consumption trends across Asia in 2022. The report, based on an Asia-wide survey covering 2,100 premium lifestyle consumers across six markets - Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia (Singapore and Malaysia), tracks lifestyle consumption drivers & trends in the world’s most dynamic consumer markets. It sheds light on evolving trends shaping consumption across premium and luxury segments, including fashion, accessories & footwear, beauty, fragrance & makeup, active lifestyle, and jewellery & watch.

Against this backdrop of evolving consumer sentiment and behaviours, the report reveals five broad consumer personas driving consumption trends across Asia in 2022.

Experientialist

From culture to entertainment and content, "immersion" is the name of the game for experientialists who want to feel part of a brand's universe. Experientialist consumers appear to embrace a subscription mentality, allaying their fear of missing out (FOMO) by signing up for more and more brand services, newsletters and events.

Neophilist

From niche brands to mix & matched products and the rising pre-owned market, neophilists are drawn to originality. Interest in niche brands that fewer people know about but that offer great style and quality, grew anywhere from 16% to 34% year-on-year, with consumers in Mainland China (89%), Taiwan (88%) and Hong Kong (88%) most keen on niche brands.

Traditionalist

Traditionalists look for the quintessential luxury shopping experience: big names, in-store service and a sense of status. Chinese consumers still lead the continent when it comes to traditional associations with luxury: 94% agree that the reputation of a premium or lifestyle brand is key to them when considering a purchase, while 95% agree that buying luxury makes them feel like they have reached a certain level of success. Interestingly, South-East Asia (Singapore and Malaysia) itself saw a surge in respondents agreeing that reputation is key (+12% year-on-year), yet the opposite trend is true when it comes to consuming luxury for status and self-reward

Idealist

Idealists want to feel good about their purchase and care about brands' ethics and values – but may still be driven by other priorities. In the survey, over 80% of consumers in all markets except Japan agree that they will make sure a brand’s products are responsibly sourced before they purchase

Comfort-me-ist

From their body to their home, consumers are paying attention to clean and natural options to feel healthier and more comfortable. The pandemic gave rise to a wave of interest in self-care (both physical and mental), which appears to remain strong in 2022. Herein, Chinese consumers lead in terms of interest across healthy/active lifestyle products (95% of respondents).

Additionally, the report also highlighted insights for the Asian market:

1. Across all markets in Asia, consumers are increasingly showing interest in niche brands that fewer people know about, but that offers great style and quality. The biggest year-on-year increases in consumer interest for this brand category are found in Mainland China (+34%), Taiwan (+31%) and Japan (+31%).
2. Second-hand products are also slowly winning hearts, again with a year-on-year increase in consumer openness across all markets, led by the largest increase in interest from Japan (+22%) and Taiwan (+26%).
3. Meanwhile, demand for brand experiences (through events, tech, entertainment, and gaming) continues to grow, with the highest year-on-year increases in consumer interest in Japan (+27%) and Hong Kong (+8%).
4. Interest in home entertainment & home spa is gaining traction in Japan (+7% interest year-on-year) while losing ground in South Korea (-11%) and South-East Asia (-8%).
5. Finally, interest in products associated with a healthy/active lifestyle is down overall, with the biggest year-on-year decreases in interest in South Korea (-8%) and Taiwan (-6%).

The major channels of influence across the study were (44%) social networks, (31%) websites, and (27%) friends and family are the most influential channels for brand preference and purchasing decisions. Similarly, among the major channels of purchase online channel purchasing channels are most popular among consumers of skincare, makeup, and fragrance products. Offline remains the main channel of choice for jewellery & watch shoppers. Overall, however, most consumers prefer a mix of both.