Urban Chinese opt for natural hair care, says Mintel
But two thirds think expensive hair care products are not necessarily better
Continued lack of consumer confidence in China’s hair care sector has resulted in a surge in consumption of natural hair care products in the country. According to research by Mintel, 81% of urban Chinese consumers say they prefer to buy all-natural hair care products, while 10% rate the presence of natural ingredients as their most important purchase influence.
In 2011, almost 64% of new hair care products launched in China carried a natural claim, compared to just 50% of global launches.
“The heightened level of awareness that has arisen from several high profile safety scares in recent years has taken its toll on the rate of product development in several hair care categories but hair colorants and styling agents were hit especially hard,” said Jiang Xinyi, research analyst at Mintel. “The industry has responded with an increase in all natural products. Now that China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine requires the cosmetics industry to adopt a practice of full ingredient labelling, bringing China toward being in line with international practice, hair care consumers can enjoy increased product transparency and feel batter about the safety of the products they use in their hair.”
Meanwhile, although 87% of Chinese middle class consumers “tend to go for premium rather than standard goods or services”, nearly two thirds (61%) believe expensive hair care products do not necessarily work better than lower priced ones.
“Our research has uncovered a gap between Chinese consumer attitudes towards premium goods and their ideas about hair care products,” adds Xinyi. “It indicates that most respondents have not yet recognised that advanced hair care brands deliver on a premium and are therefore unlikely to trade up in this category at present.”
Sales opportunities lie elsewhere, for instance products that address scalp problems. According to Mintel, over half of consumers asked suffer from dandruff, while 45% complain of a greasy scalp, 43% have an itchy scalp and 25% have a dry scalp. Meanwhile, the country’s older consumers profess a greater interest in colourants than their younger counterparts; 73% of 40-49 year olds report active colourants usage, while just 60% of 20-29 year olds use hair dyes.
And efficacy remains vital. Mintel’s survey shows that 26% of Chinese consumers select hair care products based on performance, followed by brand (20%) and function (14%).
