We bring you the results of a recent monthly survey on makeup and skincare products. We sampled women, age 16 and older, in each of our Asian panels. See sampling details below.

The most remarkable finding from this survey is that women in Japan have vastly different purchase habits from women in other Asian markets (Figure 1, Figure 2). While most Japanese women primarily purchase skincare and makeup at drugstores and mail order stores, women in the rest of Asia are more likely to purchase at supermarkets, specialty cosmetics stores, and department stores.

We also asked women to tell us the main reasons why they purchase skincare and makeup at the locations they chose. Japanese women shop at drugstores largely to keep costs down, while they use mail-order stores for a variety of reasons, including the special line-up offered through this venue (Figure 3). In India, whether women shop at specialty cosmetic stores, department stores, or supermarkets/convenience stores, they are more concerned about the abundance of selection, convenience, and ability to make comparisons to other products than they are about cost (Figure 4).

Table 1: % Respondents who chose each of the above stores/venues in response to the question: "Where do you buy skincare products? Please choose the one place where you most often buy skincare products. ※By skincare products, we mean facial toner, lotions, cream, etc. which are designed to treat your skin." Cells which > 20% selected are highlighted in green.

Figure 2: % Respondents who chose each of the above stores/venues in response to the question: "Where do you buy makeup products? Please choose the one place where you most often buy skincare products. ※By skincare products, we mean facial toner, lotions, cream, etc. which are designed to treat your skin." Cells which > 20% selected are highlighted in green.

Figure 3: % Japanese respondents who chose each of the above reasons in response to the question: "In the previous question, you answered where you purchase [skincare/makeup]. Please explain why you purchase [skincare/makeup here]. Please choose all that apply." Cells which > 30% selected are highlighted in green.

Figure 4: % Indian respondents who chose each of the above reasons in response to the question: "In the previous question, you answered where you purchase [skincare/makeup]. Please explain why you purchase [skincare/makeup here]. Please choose all that apply." Cells which > 30% selected are highlighted in green.

We at AIP have taken one step further towards offering you a one-stop partnership on your data collection needs in Asia.

Just this month (July) we released our AOS PH (AIP Philippine panel).

Just like its predecessors, AOS PH was made/created applying the same local resources and high standards adopted in all our AOS panels.

Local staff were hired to localize the members’site and various profiling features, creating a sense of familiarity for our Filipino members and making their survey experience as comfortable as possible. Panel member management itself is taken care of by local staff to encourage members to share ideas and ask questions about our surveys in a familiar and comfortable environment.

Local standards applied to ensure quality include checking members' registered phone numbers and addresses during the initial registration phase and verifying that phone number area codes and addresses are consistent.

We would also like to share some Philippine localized tidbits which would help you facilitate a successful online survey in the Philippines.

1) Internet penetration in the Philippines as of 2010 according to the ITU is 29.7% of the population.
2) Survey Language: There are 2 official languages in the Philippines, which are English and Filipino/Tagalog. Filipino/Tagalog is also a dialect of most of the Northern areas of the Philippines, while people in the rest of the country speak in their own dialects. There are around 175 dialects spoken in the Philippines, and English is used as the medium of instruction. As such, surveys in the Philippines need not be translated into Filipino/Tagalog.
3) According to 2004 statistics, internet access is mainly through internet cafes, making up 38% of all internet access channels in the Philippines. Personal computer ownership rate is low at 10%. With this kind of access environment, we suggest not to run online surveys with finger-printing technology here.
4) Regional distribution of internet penetration is highly concentrated in the two main metropolitan cities, which are Metro Manila, comprising 41% of the Philippine population, and Metro Cebu, which promises 17% of the internet population.

We look forward to carrying out your data collection projects in AOS PH.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_Philippines
http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia/ph.htm