Meet the modern mum: The buying potential of working mothers in China

With an estimated 320 million working mothers in China, this vital and influential demographic currently represents a myriad of opportunities for marketers.

A study by Ogilvy Greater China’s consumer insights and trends group Discovery, however, warns that it would be presumptuous to assume Chinese mothers are similar to each other and will respond to marketing messages in the same way. But to reach this coveted consumer group, brands must understand their audience is more diversified than the ‘superwoman’ stereotype they often place on working mothers in their communications.

According to Kunal Sinha, executive director of Discovery, the current segmentation of Chinese mums is “an oversimplification of the diversity in mothers’ lifestyles, aspirations and ambitions”.

Tom Doctoroff, JWT North Asia area director and Greater China CEO, feels that Chinese mothers place an immense emphasis on their children’s futures and often take it upon themselves to determine how their children’s lives turn out. Chinese mothers are increasingly seeking a bigger pay-off from brands and products to ensure their children grow up well.

Aruna Natarajan, media director at OMD International, thinks that in this pursuit for children’s wellbeing, mothers universally are constantly seeking out information. “Young and new mothers especially are definitely more information-hungry as they’re looking for guidance,” she says. “Marketers therefore need to address this gap between mums and their search for information. Are they getting the information that they’re looking for? Or do they even need more?”

In the hunt for information, a major channel that brands can no longer ignore when they are reaching out to Chinese mothers is the online space. Chinese mothers are increasingly net-savvy and are using the internet to express themselves through collective action - again for their children. Mothers now also look to external sources to validate a brand’s claims, looking to peers for guidance and becoming more sophisticated in their knowledge.

As such, brands can add real value by creating on or off-line communities to connect mothers.To this end, Johnson & Johnson recently unveiled its ‘Yahoo! Babytalk’ online portal which carries social networking opportunities and product recommendations for mothers via an online community - an initiative that Natarajan feels can address the needs of a range of mothers. She also stresses that branded content creation for mothers has not been fully exploited and should feature more this year, citing the use of celebrity mums give information to mothers. “While this is already very popular and very much used in the West, it has not yet caught on here in Asia or China.”

Doctoroff feels there are two companies currently on the right track in building their brands in China. “How Disney and McDonald’s are turning fun into learning is very interesting,” he says. “One is using its characters as vehicles for education while for the other a ‘Happy Meal’ is a ‘Learning Meal’.”

Statistics

320 million - Estimated number of working mothers in China

61 per cent - Percentage of working mums expecting flexible working hours

47.6 per cent - Percentage of working mothers’ income spent on children

49 per cent - Percentage of mothers in tier 1 cities who see having child as duty

80 per cent - Percentage of tier 1 and 2 mums for whom TV is major influence

35.7 per cent - Percentage of working mums who put child at centre of all they do

Industry comments

Shenan Chuang, Ogilvy & Mather:
“Many brands portray Chinese mothers as a stereotype - the superwoman who will conquer mountains so that her child becomes a superachiever. Our study shows that this is absolutely not the case.

The Chinese mother today is much more sophisticated than we believe. An increasing number seek recognition beyond merely how they raise their kids.”

They demand and desire different solutions, at different stages of motherhood. Even if two mothers earn the same, the difference in their upbringing and occupation may result in completely opposite forms of consumer behaviour.”

Joanna von Felkerzam, Starcom MediaVest Group:
“To drive maximum mum connection, advertisers must understand both motivations/ desires and the life stages of mothers.
Not all mothers are the same - and no one mother stays the same.

Mothering is a journey, and with that her information needs, her focus as a ‘shopper mum’, and her media interactions evolve along this journey.”

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This article was originally published in the 22 April 2010 issue of Media.