FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Honey! Who Shrunk The Household?
OMD Malaysia and Pulse Group Plc Launch Second Research Piece on Delayed Marriage and Child Bearing as part of ‘Tomorrow Now’ Thought Leadership series
Kuala Lumpur, July 26, 2011 – Malaysia‟s ageing population hit the headlines recently with an United Nations report citing that Malaysia will reach the status of an ageing nation status by 2035, with the number of people above the age of 60 reaching 15% of the population.
Like all developing nations, an ageing society is a result of a declining birthrate, a global trend of late. Growing silver generation and shrinking child rate are factors that are bound to impact the economy and industries targeting households and children.
OMD Malaysia and Pulse Group PLC have initiated a study to understand the delayed marriage and child bearing trend among the young and mature adults, the second of Omnicom Media Group-Pulse Group‟s total of four thought leadership series titled „Tomorrow Now‟. The initiative includes primary online research of 300 adults aged between 20 to 40 years across the Peninsula and East Malaysia.
“We are all aware of the impending trend, but many may think it is 24 years away and there is still plenty of time. However, we must realize that aging society is a phenomenon that needs to be tackled now, while it happens rather than later, when it may be too late”, commented Andreas Vogiatzakis, Managing Director of Omnicom Media Group.
Bob Chua, CEO of Pulse Group PLC added, “In line with our objective of continuing to stay ahead of the curve, we undertook this study. The report makes us understand the drivers of the change and how marketers can prepare to adapt to consumer changes in a timely manner.”
The study: “Honey! Who Shrunk the Household” was conducted in early July 2011 primarily to understand the perceptions and resistance of the young and mature audience towards marriage and child bearing.
The research revealed that while people delayed age of first marriage as compared to their parents‟ generation, they have not lost faith in marriage. Singlehood is good, but 84% still long for a family of their own. The Malay population tend to marry younger, but both Chinese and Malay‟s thinking are alike when it comes to factors governing the age for first marriage, i.e. financial readiness, mental readiness and “kid” readiness. On an average, women age of first marriage by 3 years compared to 2 years among men. This is not surprising because of the increase of educational and career opportunities among females as compared to males in the past decade.
What is worth noting is that women evolve faster than men. While most men still chauvinistically perceive they should bear all the expenses of buying a house, groceries, kids etc., women have already outgrown the gender stereotypes. About half the women participating in the survey, expressed an intent to voluntarily share the household and children related expenses with men. At the same time, they expected, men to share responsibilities and house-hold chores including cooking and childcare, that were traditionally categorised as women‟s tasks.
The study found that educated women tend to be more assertive, less conforming, has more opportunities to discover and realize her true self, and motherhood is no longer considered to be the only feminine bliss. 74% of men and 68% of women agreed that women are more demanding and have higher expectation currently, with 70% of single women above the age of 35 still insisting on the same expectations on an ideal partner as when they were 30, without being particularly worried about remaining single.
Not only the young delay the age of first marriage, couples also delay the age of having their first child – 60% of their parent‟s generation have kids within the first year of marriage, while young people today want it 2 to 3 years later. Rising cost of living and limited educational opportunities for children are some of the main factors contributing to the declining birthrate. 66% of Chinese only aim to have 2 kids or less, but 76% Malays are generally happy to have 3 kids or more. That said, for the Malay, the percentages have declined by a 22 percentage from the earlier generation!
According to 2009 Statistics Book of Malaysia, there are 4.4 adults (aged 25+) to one kid below the age of four. Kids are at the centre of the family‟s attention with parents typically willing to pay more for everything when it comes to buying for their children. While, this does not necessarily mean that kids will end up being spoilt, but they certainly grow up savouring good quality products, indicating that will become discerning consumers at a very young age.
Are we prepared for the changes?
The “Tomorrow Now!‟ thought leadership-series is an “invitation only” event.
About Pulse Group
Pulse Group PLC is Asia‟s leading Digital Research Agency. Its full-service capabilities encompass brand related insights, measurement, sentiment analysis and Consumer 2.0 across Asia-Pacific. It also manages one of the most established Asian Online panels www.planet-pulse.com – an online community of survey respondents throughout Asia-Pacific and Middle East. Please visit www.pulse-group.com for more information.
About OMD Worldwide
OMD Worldwide, www.omd.com, is one of the largest and most innovative media marketing specialists in the world, serving many of the most successful and well-known brands, with more than 140 office in 80 countries. OMD is recognized for its global imprint, strategic integration and creativity and is named Most Creative Agency in the World by the Gunn Report for the past five years. OMD is distinguished as the most awarded agency being recognized by AdAge, Campaign and Adweek for both 2008 and 2009. OMD was the most medaled agency in the recent 2011 Cannes festival. The agency network is a unit of Omnicom Group, Inc.
About Omnicom Media Group
Omnicom Media Group is the media services division of Omnicom Group, Inc. (NYSE: OMC). Omnicom is a leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.
Omnicom Media Group is made up of several media specialist companies. Among them is OMD Worldwide (http://www.omd.com), the largest and most innovative media communications specialists in the world, and PHD Network (www.phdnetwork.com), a leading media services company widely recognized for its pioneering and innovative work for clients.
For more information, contact:
PULSE GROUP PLC: SHEIKH ZAIN AL-HUSSEIN, HEAD OF MARKETING
TELEPHONE: +6 (03) 2167 6666
OMNICOM MEDIA GROUP: ANDREAS VOGIATZAKIS
TELEPHONE: +6 (03) 7651 9999