1 in 10 "Completely Satisfied" With Their Looks

PR60513

NUREMBERG, Germany, May 29 / PRN=KYODO JBN / --

   Over half of people internationally are fairly satisfied or completely

satisfied with their personal looks  

Teenagers only slightly more likely to be dissatisfied than older age groups  

Japanese are the most self-critical, with over 1 in 10 "not at all satisfied'

   With summer fast approaching the northern hemisphere and consumers preparing

to be 'beach ready', GfK has released findings on how satisfied people

internationally are with their personal looks.   

   Across all 22 countries surveyed, over half (55 percent) of consumers aged

15 and over say they are satisfied with their looks, which includes over one in

ten (12 percent) who go as far as saying that they are completely satisfied. In

contrast, only 16 percent claim any dissatisfaction with how they look,

including three percent who state that they are not at all satisfied. The

remaining 29 percent are neutral.

   Latin American countries are happiest with their looks

   Complete satisfaction with personal looks is highest in Latin America, with

Mexico, Brazil and Argentina all appearing in the top five for the percentage

of population claiming this. When we widen this to include those who say they

are fairly satisfied, as well as those who are completely satisfied, Mexico

remains on top, standing at nearly three quarters (74 percent), closely

followed by Turkey at 71 percent. Brazilians and Ukrainians come next at 65

percent each, then the Spanish at 64 percent, with Germans and Argentinians

tying at 62 percent. The Japanese are the most critical of their own looks,

with 38 percent not too satisfied or not at all satisfied, followed by the

British at 20 percent, then Russians, South Koreans, Swedes and Australians all

at 19 percent.

   These findings are key for businesses in the fashion, beauty and personal

grooming sectors in identifying how messaging can be refined to resonate more

strongly with specific markets or target groups. In countries like Japan, UK

and Russia, significant numbers will respond to marketing based around 'improve

or change your look', while consumers in Mexico and Turkey are more likely to

respond to offers around 'refine and maintain your look'.

   View infographic showing 22-country ranking:

http://www.gfk.com/PublishingImages/Press/GfK-Infographic-Looks-Countries.jpg

   Teenagers only slightly more critical about their looks  

   While there is some lean towards teenagers being most self-critical about

their looks, it is not as heavy as might be expected - and comes almost wholly

from those who are a little bit dissatisfied rather than entirely so. Overall,

16 percent of 15-19 year olds say they are "not too satisfied" with their

looks, compared to 12-13 percent for the age groups between 20 and 59 years

old. And this difference disappears almost completely when we look at those

saying they are not at all satisfied with their looks. Here, all the different

age groups stand at either 3 or 4 percent. Overall, people aged 60 and over are

least self-critical, with just nine percent being not too satisfied with their

looks and three percent not at all satisfied.

   Men and women are almost equal

   Comparison of the male and female responses also sheds new light on the

assumption that women are more critical of their looks than men. Both genders

run equal in the percentage that are happy with their looks - each standing at

43 percent saying they are fairly satisfied and 12 percent completely

satisfied. However, men are more likely to be neutral about this question than

women (31 percent versus 27 percent). When it comes to being dissatisfied with

their looks, women creep ahead of the men, but only by a few points - 14

percent being not too satisfied, compared to 11 percent of men, and 4 percent

being not at all satisfied, compared to 3 percent of men.

   View infographic showing global average, men vs women:

http://www.gfk.com/PublishingImages/Press/GfK-Infographic-Looks-Total.jpg

   For more information, go to:

http://www.gfk.com/news-and-events/press-room/press-releases/Pages/1-in-10-completely-satisfied-with-their-looks.aspx

   CONTACT: Amanda Martin

            Global PR

            +44-7919-624-688,

            press@gfk.com;

            Stefan Gerhardt

            Global PR

            +49-911-395-4440

            press@gfk.com

    SOURCE: GfK