We know that different genders, countries, cultures, and sub-cultures have different views about personal grooming; and they typically act accordingly.

Recently, GFK (a firm with more than 13,000 market research experts who provide global insights matched with local market intelligence from more than 100 countries) conducted an in-depth study on personal grooming:

“Findings released by GfK from a 22-country survey show that women spend an average of almost five hours a week on personal grooming (bathing, shaving, dressing, hair, make-up), while men spend just over three hours. But what are the major (as opposed to minor) reasons that motivate people to try to look their best?”

“The most popular motivation, cited by 60 percent of the 27,000 people surveyed as a major reason for trying to look their best, is to feel good about themselves. This was followed by making a good impression on people they meet for the first time (44 percent) and setting a good example for their children (40 percent).”

“Men and women mirror each other in seeing these as the top three reasons for wanting to look good. But the number one reason – feeling good about themselves – resonates more strongly with women than men (67 percent versus 52 percent), while making a good first impression and setting a good example for their children are cited by almost the same percentage of men as women.”

 

Click the images for a larger version.

 

Click the GfK logo for a PDF of the research report.


 

9 Replies to “Globally, How Important Is Personal Grooming?”

  1. First impression of a person is very important. No matter how many times people say that what matters the most is the personality and qualities of a person, most of the people judge another person by their appearance. So, it is very important to appear well-dressed, well-groomed. Also, personal grooming is not based on gender, both male and female needs look presentable. I agree with the reasons for personal grooming, because firstly if a person does not feel comfortable with his/her ownself, how can he/she be comfortable around others.

  2. Taking care of oneself is a good way to show others a better picture of yourself. Many people may think that reason for people to look good is because of the social life that we go through in our everyday life. Looking good is not only socially beneficial but it is also important to look appropriate when you go for a job interview. Looking sharp at a job interview is not just to look good but to show respect to the interviewer and also a good impression of yourself. Looking sloppy in a job interview will make the interviewer describe you negatively and that may cause a person to not get that particular job. I believe that a company will love to hire a person who takes good care of themselves because once that person becomes an employee for that company, he now represent the company and it is important to show a better picture of the company outside the organisation with employees as the company’s representatives.This is why first impression is very important where ever you go.

  3. It is reasonable that the main reason for people to have personal grooming is to feel good about themselves. Personally, I am not interested in make-up because it is time-consuming. However, several of my friends told me make-up can give them confidence, and they will feel better when they look into the mirror. One of my friends told me that she won’t go out without make-up. During the time I lived with her, she took at least half an hour to do make-up every day.

  4. I absolutely agree with Esaba Sayeera that first impression is very important. The first impression is actually the first barrier or screen for us to decide whether we would like to continue contact with the person or not. Generally, for unknown people, most of us may prefer talk to the one that looks clean, confident or gentle. Sometimes, some famous people or genius, their personal grooming do not like most normal people and we may say they have special characteristics. However I think the rule of franchise players does not available for most people. I am not sure if the situation also the same in Europe or US, but in China, S Korea or Japan, with the same level of degree or ability, the people with better personal grooming would have more chance to get the job and make new friends, and maybe it is a reason why make-up and some tools like photoshop are more popular.

  5. i believe that the personal grooming will become more and more important. The personal grooming implied that people want to show some good things to others, such as confidence and positive spirit, and also they hope to get more things from other, such as a good impression and appreciation. In social life, relationship is a key point, and no one can deny that beautiful appearance and fashionable style will more quickly appeal to other persons so that get more scores in the first time.

  6. I am not surprised that the most popular motivation for personal grooming is for someone to feel good about themselves. I can relate to this because every morning I set aside thirty minutes to do my hair and makeup, just so I feel well kept and put together. Personal grooming is important because it is, for most people, the first impression of an individual.

  7. It makes sense that grooming is something we regard as being extremely important. While the results might indicate that these reasons are slightly superficial, the essence of it proves that we do certain tasks to feel better about ourselves. Of course we want to put on a good front to others, whether it be in a professional aspect or just in our personal lives, but the motivation behind all of it is to improve self image. This has me curious as to what our reasons are for doing similar tasks, such as putting on makeup or fixing our hair. From an initial point of view, we may see a plethora of time being devoted to this as just a desperate ploy to impress others. However, this reveals that we all just want to be comfortable in our own skin. Men and women alike are looking to find ways to feel validated with who they are, and I’m glad this study shed a light on that.

  8. I think first impression of a person is very important. It makes people good about themselves. Looking good is not only socially beneficial but it is also important to look appropriate for a job interview. Looking neat and sharp sends a good signal to the employer.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.