Baby Boomer Research 3: Survey of the Baby-Boom Generation and Fashion

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1 Baby Boomer Research 3: Survey of the Baby-Boom Generation and Fashion Baby-boomers spend more on fashion than both people in their 40s and their 60s: Men spend an average annual 83,000 on clothing and women 135,000. More than half of boomers wear jeans at the weekend: the Jeans 50s are here. Daughters are the shopping partner of choice for boomer women who have them, bringing mother & daughter spending to the fore. Tokyo August 9, 2005 Hakuhodo's Elder Business Development Division conducts a constant array of surveys and other research into the lives and sentiments of Japanese elders, or people aged 50 and over. The following is a summary of key findings of our Survey of the Baby-Boom Generation and Fashion, our most recent study using Hakuhodo's unique Hi-panel survey panel. The survey targeted a total of 655 people living in the Greater Tokyo and Kansai areas, comprising 327 male and female baby-boomers (born ), 168 males and females in their 40s, and 160 males and females in their 60s. It was conducted by Internet from mid-late March Results showed that both male and female baby-boomers spend more on fashion-related items than both the generation above and below them. Notably, baby-boom women were the only group among those surveyed to spend more than 100,000 a year on clothing. We found baby-boom women to be highly particular about fashion, being mindful of dressing fashionably. In addition, a majority of both men and women wear jeans casually, bearing out our contention that the baby-boom generation is Jeans 50s (jeans-wearing people in their 50s). On examining purchase behavior, we discovered that a huge majority of more than 70% men went clothes shopping with their wives, but only small number of women went shopping with their husbands, preferring to go alone, with their daughters or with friends. Among those boomer women with daughters, more than 40% shop for clothes with them, indicative of the increasingly apparent mother and daughter spending trend. There was also a difference in perceptions of fashions depending on whether the woman had a daughter or not.

2 Key survey findings Compared with those in their 40s and 60s, baby-boom women are far and away the biggest spenders on fashion. Boomer men also spend big on fashion, making the boomers the generation that spends on fashion. Baby-boom women are much more particular about fashion than either the generation before or after them. They are discriminating about a clean look; suitability for the time, place and occasion; whether an item suits them, whether is expresses their self image, and its stylishness. More than half the baby-boom generation wears jeans on their days off. More than 70% of baby-boom men go shopping for clothes with their wives, compared with just 17.4% of women who shop for clothes with their husbands. Baby-boom women shop alone, with their daughter or with friends. When it comes to choosing clothes, boomer women are dissatisfied with price, design and shops. There are some differences in dissatisfactions depending on whether the woman has a daughter or not. Survey outline Period: Mid-late March 2005 Territory: Area within 40 km of Tokyo and the Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe area Targets: Baby-boomer (born ) males (159) and females (168); year old males (81) and females (87); year old males (103) and females (57) n = 655 Method: Internet survey of previously interviewed panelists (Baby-Boomer & 50s Hi-panel) Compared with those in their 40s and 60s, baby-boom women are far and away the biggest spenders on fashion. Even boomer men spend big, giving us a baby-boom generation that spends up big on fashion. When we asked how much they spent on fashion, boomer women spent considerably more than their counterparts in their 40s and 60s. While women in their 40s and 60s spent on average around 95,000 on clothing a year, baby-boom women spent 135,476, or around 40,000 more. Their spending in the shoes, accessories and cosmetics categories all exceeded those of the generations above and below them by around 10 30%.

3 Although not by the same margin as boomer women, boomer men also spent more than those in the generations above and below them in all categories. Their average annual clothing spend was 82,651; or 14,000 more than that of men in their 40s. Average annual spend on fashion ( ) Men 40s Baby-Boomers 60s Clothing Shoes Accessories Women 40s Baby-Boomers 60s Clothing Shoes Accessories Cosmetics

4 Baby-boom women are much more particular about fashion than either the generation before or after them. They are discriminating about a clean look; suitability for the time, place and occasion; whether an item suited them; whether is expressed their self image, and stylishness. Boomer men are slightly less particular than the generations above and below them. When asked what they were selective about in terms of fashion, both men and women gave a clean look; whether an item suited them; and suitability for the time, place and occasion high marks. But in comparison to the generations below and above them, boomer men were less fastidious overall, while boomer women were more so than the other generations. In fact, boomer women s fussiness about fashion is particularly high. Conversely, few were particular about whether their clothing made them look youthful or slim, indicative that it was important for respondents to not cause others discomfort but to have their own sense of style irrespective of their age. Things looked for in fashion (Women) (%) Is it the current make me make me give me a fashion look look clean suit the stand out stand out time, too much Is it my style suit me make me make me look slim look suit my age Women in their 40s Baby-boom women Women in their 60s look "too Other much" I m not particular about Women in their 40s Baby-boom women Women in their 60s

5 Things looked for in fashion (Men) (%) Men in their 40s Baby-boom men Men in their 60s Is it the current fashion make me look make me look give me a clean suit the time, Is it my stand out stand out style too much make me suit me look slim make me look suit my age look "too much" Other I m not particular about Men in their 40s Baby-boom men Men in their 60s More than half of boomers wear jeans on their days off. The Jeans 50s generation is here, something unthinkable of previous generations of people in their 50s. In day off clothing choices of the baby-boom generation, the most favored bottoms for both men and women were cotton pants and jeans, in that order. With 50.3% of male boomers and 55.4% of female boomers saying they wear jeans, we discovered that a majority are Jeans 50s. The top outfit for days off (single response) was polo shirt and cotton pants for men, and t-shirt and cotton pants for women, but close to 20% of both genders report wearing jeans at all times. Baby boom men's day off bottoms % Baby-boom women's day off bottoms % Cotton pants 72.3 Cotton pants 77.4 Jeans 50.3 Jeans 55.4 Training wear/sweat pants 41.5 Wool pants 46.4 Wool pants 32.7 Skirts 34.5 Pajamas 17.0 Training wear/sweat pants 32.7 Other 3.1 Pajamas 9.5 Dress 7.7 Other 4.8

6 Baby-boom men's tops for days off at home (%) Baby-boom women's tops for days off at home (%) Training wear/sweat shirt, 14.5 Other, 1.3 Pajamas, 3.8 T-shirt, 19.5 Training wear/sweat shirt, 7.1 Blouse/ Shirt, 7.1 Other, 1.2 Pajamas, 1.2 Dress, 1.2 Blouse/ Shirt, 15.1 Knit, 1.3 Polo shirt, 12.5 T-shirt, 44.0 Polo shirt, 44.7 Knit, 25.6 Baby-boom men's bottoms for days off at home (%) Training wear/sweat pants, 17.6 Other, 0.6 Skirt, - Wool pants, 10.7 Cotton pants, 43.4 Baby-boom women's bottoms for days off at home (%) Wool pants, 9.5 Pajamas, 1.2 Other, 3.0 Skirt, 8.9 Dress, 1.2 Cotton pants, 33.3 Jeans, 23.9 Training wear/sweat pants, 15.5 Jeans, 27.4 More than 70% of baby-boom men shop for clothes with their spouses, but only 17.4% of boomer women do. Instead, boomer women shop for clothes by themselves, with their daughters, or their friends. If they have a daughter, they are much more likely to shop with her, suggesting the emergence of mother-daughter spending. For an overwhelming majority of more than 70% of men, it is their wives that they shop for clothes with. However, only 17.4% of boomer women shop with their husbands, preferring instead to shop alone (49.1%), with their daughters (29.9%), or with friends (25.7%). For boomer women with daughters, 44.2% shop with them and 41.6% shop alone. Mother-daughter spending seems to be coming to the fore.

7 Shopping partner (when buying for oneself) Spouse Friends Son Daughter Baby-boom men Baby-boom women Parents Other I don't shop with anyone Boomer women s top complaints about clothing were price, design and shops. More than half of boomer men had no complaints. When we asked them about what complaints they had when selecting clothing, the majority of men had no complaints, indicative of their low level of fussiness in this area. Women, on the contrary had some complaint about clothing. In each of three complaints too expensive, lack of suitable designs and lack of suitable shops more than one in three women was dissatisfied. Complaints when choosing clothing (%) Too expensive Too few designs that suit me Too few sizes that suit me Too few shops that suit me Fashion changes too quickly to keep up Other Baby-boom men Baby-boom women No particular complaints

8 Complaints were different depending on whether they have a daughter or not. The biggest complaint of boomer women with daughters was size, while the top complaints of boomer women without daughters were price and design. Looking at boomer women s complaints in detail, we see that the types of complaints differ depending on whether the woman has a daughter or not. Boomer women with children were more dissatisfied with size, their top complaint, than their daughterless sisters. Conversely boomer women with no daughters were particularly dissatisfied with price and design, much more so than women with daughters. It is likely that women with daughters often share clothes with them so have fewer problems with price or design. However, they run into the problem of size when they find they cannot buy some of the more youthful brands in their size. However, it is likely that women with no daughters they are buying for themselves only, and are therefore are more critical of price and design, while they have fewer problems with size since they are choosing sizes from among brands designed for their own age group. Size may be an important factor in developing products targeting both mothers and daughters. Complaints when choosing clothing (%) Too expensive Too few designs that suit me Too few sizes that suit me Too few shops that suit me Fashion changes too quickly to keep up Other No particular complaints Baby-boom women with daughters Baby-boom women without daughters

9 Contact: Corporate Public Relations Div. U. Hirasawa, M. Fujimoto Tel: Elder Business Development Div. S. Sakamoto, H. Tanaka Tel: