The Category Series by BDRC Asia

EVOLUSI WANITATHE CHANGING FACE OF INDONESIAN WOMEN

With the advent of globalization and the changing social & marketing environment in Indonesia, women have gone through rapid changes in terms

of their mindset, values and expectations. Thus, it becomes imperative to understand the trends and reasons behind the changing face of Indonesian woman.

BDRC Asia Indonesia conducted deep dive consumer research to get into the minds of the evolving ‘Wanitas’ of Indonesia – a study conducted among 18-45 years old women, single & married, working & housewives. The findings are pointing towards the gradual emancipation of woman in the Indonesian society and her transformation from just a home maker to a family destiny shaper having come far from just being the caregiver of the family. We will bring forward certain attitudes & values that are undergoing rapid change when it comes to the fairer sex!

Equality is the mantra among today’s Indonesian woman, wherever you see. More woman are joining the work force and in some cases, we found females earning more than the male counterparts. A comment from our research - “Sometimes my husband wants to know how much I am earning; perhaps he wants to know if I am now earning more, which I am!” and she laughts about the achievement. Even the housewives have more control over decisions compared than their predecessors – “I value my mother’s patience and the hardship she has gone through, but I never wanted to lead her kind of life!”

Thus, the woman’s involvement & decision making have increased from kitchen & groceries to broader categories such as child’s education, banking & insurance, household durables & electronics. They are not just the influencers but in many cases they are the money managers in the process. The woman are more aware and informed about the discounts & benefits of products and thus while purchas-ing, they can take more intelligent decisions.

The men seem to be changing in the eyes of today’s woman and they preceive men as more casual and not ready to take responsibilities like that of their predecessors. As one commented “Today’s men don’t want to get into details - quite different from the previous men”; and thus it seems woman are getting more of a free hand in areas of decision making which was less of a possibility during their mother’s time.

Money management is also going through an evolution as we see the different patterns emerging from older to younger woman. While the older women are still OK to consider the men as the money handlers, the 25-35 year olds treat money management seriously and have taken quite a lot of decisions in their hand. We even found some of the 18-25 year olds, who are not yet married but with boyfriends,

managing the finances of the guys – now that’s a true power shift trend!

With increased power in hand and more disposable money, the woman of Indonesia are no more guilt conscious about spending more on themselves; self – pampering seems to be on the rise. One lady says “My mother always thought of family - even if she was earning she felt that spending money on herself was a bad attitude. But I don’t believe so, I have to take care of myself physically and mentally to be successful in both home and work – if I keep myself updated and well groomed, people will respect me”.

As the woman becomes more outward bound, another evolving trend is that having friend circles outside the family who act as strong influencers. This circle is an extended Family (we call it a “Friemily”) is not just about gossip, but where she can discuss problems, stay updated, give & take important tips, and can have productive discussions in the area of fashion, money managment, education, child’s devel-opment and last but not the least relationship issues.

The woman are collective & social by nature, but they are gradually moving towards individualism. We find out that while today’s woman listen to friends, she is more confident in making the final decision. This demonstrates that they are taking not only informed decision makers but are also demonstrating an individualistic attitude towards choosing products & services.

The children in some cases are acting as the propellant and catalyst in changing the attitudes and values of the woman in terms of fashion, technology and the general way of looking at life. As one mother says – “I started wearing shorts as my daughter wanted me to. First the neighbours were comment-ing (about this) but my daughter told me… ‘Mom, why worry about them!’” The children seem to be the key decision makers for their mothers when its comes to a better mobiles or better gadgets. Hence, the classical parenting is giving way to a more democratic parent-child relationship.

All in all, it’s quite apparent that ‘Wanita Indonesia’ is defi-nitely going through an evolution which might change the classical ways of marketing products & services like financial products, education, technology etc. As a famous saying goes - “On the left side of a strong woman, stands a strong man; he is strengthened by her character.” (Ellen J. Barrier)

Shawn Roy, Director, BDRC Asia Indonesia

Shawn.roy@bdrc-asia.com

Tel: +62-21-5761253/54

www.bdrc-asia.com

EVOLUSI WANITATHE CHANGING FACE OF INDONESIAN WOMEN