As cosmetic surgery techniques advance and the obsession with beauty increases, cosmetic surgery has become more prevalent in Asian markets. We surveyed residents from across the region about their views towards beauty and cosmetic surgery.
When thinking about beauty, the top 3 associations according to Asian respondents are attractive face (42%), confidence (37%) and good body figure (37%).
Acceptance level towards plastic surgery
The results reveal that men (51%) and women (48%) generally have high acceptance towards non-invasive cosmetic treatments (e.g. Botox to reduce wrinkles, Juvederm to enrich cheek & lips). Surprisingly, men’s acceptance level (45%) towards invasive surgical treatments (e.g. Liposuction, Breast enlargement) is even higher than that of women’s (39%).
Prevalence of plastic surgery in Asia-Pacific region
Among all countries surveyed, Thailand and China are two countries with the highest prevalence of cosmetic surgery, with 5% and 4% of respondents admitting having undergone treatments respectively, whereas in Malaysia and Indonesia, only 1% say they have gone under the knife. In line with this, Chinese (37%) and Thai (34%) people are also more likely to consider plastic surgery in the future, while Indonesians (11%) show the least consideration for it. Overall, the higher consideration for plastic surgery is more to female, aged 25-34 and people with higher income.
Preferred type of plastic surgery
When asked about which type of plastic surgery they would prefer to do, beer guts (30%) are the most popular one, followed by skin microdermabrasion (27%) and scar removal (23%)- all three were equally preferred by men and women.However, results also demonstrate gender differences in choice of particular type of cosmetic surgery. For example, significantly more women than men would opt for breast augmentation (20% women vs 5% men) whereas the choice of hair transplant is more pronounced among men (16%), rather than women (6%).
When talking about their spouses or partners, 10% of men think if their spouses / partners are given a chance for plastic surgery, they want them to do scar removal (16%), followed by breast augmentation/breast lift (10%) and skin microdermabrasion (9%). Most of them (52%) think their spouses / partners do not need that. On the other hand, 55% of women think their spouses / partners do not need plastic surgery. The rest of them think their spouses can consider having beer guts (10%), scar removal (15%) and skin microdermabrasion (13%).
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