“LOHASians” are Changing the Asian Markets

©Manfred Schütze / pixelio

As current studies confirm, more and more consumers in the Asian-Pacific region are seeking out sustainably produced products and are willing to spend more money for them. Environmentally conscious consumers, who are increasingly forcing dealers and manufacturers to minimise waste and energy consumption, are taking the offensive throughout the world. The “LOHASians” are currently embracing this “green” consumption at a rapid tempo and are stimulating the billion-dollar business even more strongly worldwide.

It was approximately in the year 2000 when the concept and/or life attitude of LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability) was initially created in the USA. Market researchers formed a consumer group which lives, purchases and thinks in an environmentally- and resource-conscious manner – consumers who “intentionally” seek out quality and pleasure – and are even willing to spend more money for them. At that time, the market was estimated to be approx. 228 billion U.S. dollars. In 2006, the industry had continued to develop powerfully, gained a new focus and the estimates were accordingly approx. 209 billion U.S. dollars. However, this reduction was in no way the result of a shrinking LOHAS group, but rather the very specific selection and delimitation of the individual products – as a quite desirable counter-movement to mass consumption. Today, the LOHAS have a worldwide market valued at approx. 300 billion U.S. dollars per year.

More than Just a “Sustainability Trend”

Current studies show how quickly the “green” ideas are also taking root in Asia. And certainly not just merely as a “sustainability trend”, but rather also as a business which must be taken very seriously and of which the companies in all industries are becoming more and more aware. The movement initially began in Japan, then conquered China and Taiwan and now also the rest of the Asian-Pacific region.
In a current market study from “LOHAS Asia” and “The Natural Marketing Institute”, approx. 18,000 consumers in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand were surveyed. The survey showed clearly that consumers in these countries are seeking out sustainably produced products in a targeted manner and many are also willing to pay up to 20 percent more for that environmentally conscious consumption.

The Demand is There – the Products are Still Lacking

The greatest hindrance to an even more rapid expansion of the movement in Asia is probably simply the total lack or insufficient availability of the products. The demand for “green” consumer goods in the “food & beverage” segment exists even if the purchasing decision is based to a lesser extent on a low glycaemic index or “fair trading” rather than the attributes “nutritional” and “natural” and/or “not harmful to the environment”. Accordingly, more and more brands are already describing their environmentally friendly features on their packaging.

Brand Owners Respond

The major brand owners recognised the signs of the times a long time ago and responded by constantly introducing new products to the Asian world. An example is the “I LOHAS” water that was recently launched by Coca-Cola in Japan which, owing to the maize starch contained in the packaging materials, can be “twisted” before disposal into a small, compact size. But even in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Singapore, corresponding products are increasingly coming on the market. Even magazine and travel offers appeal to the new target groups. Lastly, approx. 80 percent of “environmentally-conscious” consumers say that they make their purchasing decision directly based upon a manufacturer’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. And this includes much more than merely very broad, unspecific concepts such as “eco” or “green”.
The target group of LOHAS is currently defined as follows worldwide: They are well-educated, have above-average incomes and are composed of approx. 60 percent women. LOHAS can be strongly influenced in their purchasing decision by the brand image and greatly affect the forming of opinions by other family members and friends. They are being appealed to by ethical business practices of brand owners as well as their adherence to and respect for environment-friendliness, sustainability, human rights, fair trading and personal developmental options. The fact has become clear that the brand and its manufacturing company are always inseparably intertwined. The products must fulfil the standards of the critical points of “pre-purchase”, “point of purchase” and “post-purchase”. With regards to the first point, above all the general CSR strategies are of central importance while the packaging is of central importance for the other two critical points - both with regards to the issues related to the target group-oriented “attractiveness” at the PoS as well as with regards to disposal issues. In this regard, the focus is on aspects such as recycling, reusability, biological degradability, etc.

Permanent Cultural Change

According to the surveys, the greatest potential in the Asian-Pacific region is found in Indonesia, China and India. According to the opinion of the experts, these results will ensure that companies will invest even more in new production processes and increasingly introduce more environmentally friendly products to the market – which can then have a direct and rapid effect on the market. Experts are in agreement that the LOHAS trend is no longer merely a simple transitional movement, but rather an entire wave of a permanently changing culture which will also completely transform the foundations of the Asian business, societal and consumer worlds.