Overview 1
Catalyst 1
Summary 1
Table of Contents 3
Table of figures 4
Table of tables 5
THE FUTURE DECODED 6
INTRODUCTION: Household care comprises laundry and household cleaning, with this report only focusing on the latter 6
This report is one of two category-focused reports outlining household care trends and preferences 6
Irrespective of whether consumers like cleaning their houses, it is something that is generally deemed to be highly important 6
TREND: The most significant growth in household cleaning products is occurring in the emerging markets 10
Product launch trend data offer some insight about the direction of household cleaning products 11
General purpose cleaners generally account for the highest share of consumers' household cleaning spend 13
Air fresheners are well placed to capitalize on the powerful influence of scent on consumers' emotional wellbeing and the fact that people are gravitating towards their homes amid the economic downturn 17
Bleach spend in many markets is falling amid concerns about formulation and the growing efficacy of general purpose cleaners 20
Emerging markets will be the main engine of growth for dishwashing products 22
Key takeouts and implications: emerging markets represent the 'path to growth' in household care 25
INSIGHT: A preoccupation with health and wellbeing also exerts significant influence on household cleaning attitudes, motivations and preferences 26
Consumers explicitly recognize the link between good hygiene and wellbeing via a 'feel-good factor' that is obtained from doing the cleaning and/or the results obtained 26
Consumers are less able to relate to the idea that the act of household cleaning itself is therapeutic 29
Most consumers are aware of and concerned about the negative health effects of poor home hygiene 32
Fears over ingredient harshness and safety in household care products are influencing consumer choices, with the halo surrounding natural formulations becoming more apparent 38
Sensory benefits can also boost the wellbeing factor of household care products 48
Key takeouts and implications: the industry must strive towards better associating household cleaning products with wellness 54
INSIGHT: Value for money considerations heavily influence household product choice and the generally favorable perception of private label branded cleaning products 55
Value-consciousness is a highly pervasive influence of many household care product choices 56
Private label household cleaning products have increasing credibility with consumers, but the habitual buying of preferred brands is still relatively commonplace 61
Word-of-mouth recommendations and product samples are also perceived to exert some influence on product choice 67
Key takeouts and implications: be wary of putting a disproportionate focus on price in responding to consumers' value-consciousness 70
INSIGHT: Convenience and efficacy heavily influence household cleaning choices due to both an inherent dislike of cleaning and perceived time scarcity 72
The majority of consumers both dislike household chores and feel constrained by time scarcity 73
Efficacy and multi-purpose benefits are deemed influential to consumers, but less so than other benefits 76
Minimizing time spent doing housework is important to consumers, but is not fully reflected in the perceived influence of time-saving product features 80
Consumers attach more importance to ease of use than ease of storage, but both are highly influential attributes shaping household care preferences 84
Key takeouts and implications: consumers are looking for ways to minimize time and effort spent on doing their housework, and household care brands must outperform rivals in this critical area 92
INSIGHT: Ethicality and sustainability is a theme that continues to gain momentum in household care product choices 93
A notable segment of consumers are deliberately avoiding companies and brands with a poor environmental reputation and are also paying attention to sustainable packaging issues 94
Ethical and environmental consumerism drives the demand for more 'virtuous formulation' and 'virtuous production' 98
Key takeouts and implications: environmentalism and the move toward sustainability is becoming a meaningful driver of consumer behavior in household care, but is secondary to most purchase influencers 106
ACTION POINTS 107
ACTION: Make performance, ease, ethics, wellbeing and value for money core components of household cleaning brands 107
ACTION: Help consumers to understand what ingredients are used and why 108
ACTION: Cater to consumers' desires for more ethical, safer products and processes 110
ACTION: Offer higher-value, more effective and more convenient solutions to help protect against the pervasive private label threat 118
APPENDIX 123
Supplementary data 123
Scouring products 123
Insecticides 125
Furniture polish 127
Methodology 128
Further reading and references 129
Ask the analyst 131
Datamonitor consulting 131
Disclaimer 131
List of Tables
Table 1: Consumer survey: agreement that consumers are houseproud, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 9
Table 2: Consumer survey: importance attributed to maintaining a clean and hygienic living environment, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 10
Table 3: General purpose cleaners market value and expenditure per capita, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2003-13 14
Table 4: General purpose cleaners market across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by region and sub-category, 2008 15
Table 5: Toilet care market value and expenditure per capita, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2003-13 16
Table 6: Toilet care market value across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by region and sub-category, 2008 16
Table 7: Air fresheners market value and expenditure per capita, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2003-13 19
Table 8: Air fresheners market value across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by region and sub-category, 2008 19
Table 9: Bleach market value and expenditure per capita, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2003-13 21
Table 10: Bleach market value across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by region and sub-category, 2008 22
Table 11: Dishwashing products market value and expenditure per capita, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2003-13 24
Table 12: Dishwashing products market value, across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by region and sub-category, 2008 24
Table 13: Consumer survey: agreement that having a clean home creates a sense of wellbeing, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 28
Table 14: Consumer survey: the extent to which a calm and relaxed feeling achieved once the home has been cleaned influences the motivation for cleaning, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 29
Table 15: Consumer survey: agreement that cleaning the home is therapeutic, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 31
Table 16: Consumer survey: the extent to which therapeutic benefits of cleaning influence consumers' motivation for cleaning their home, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 32
Table 17: Consumer survey: agreement that regular household cleaning helps reduce the chances of getting illnesses, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 36
Table 18: Consumer survey: expressed concern about the air quality in their home, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 37
Table 19: Consumer survey: stated concern about the safety or harshness of chemicals used in household cleaning agents, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 44
Table 20: Consumer survey: perceptions regarding the credibility of claims that natural cleaning products are just as effective as standard products, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 45
Table 21: Consumer survey: the influence of natural ingredients on consumers' household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 47
Table 22: Consumer survey: propensity to choose cleaning or laundry products with natural/organic ingredients, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 48
Table 23: Consumer survey: influence of scent or fragrance on household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 53
Table 24: Consumer survey: influence of scent or fragrance on household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 54
Table 25: Consumer survey: the propensity to buy cleaning or laundry products on the basis of value-for-money, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 58
Table 26: Consumer survey: influence of price on consumers' household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 60
Table 27: Consumer survey: influence of promotional offers on consumers' household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 61
Table 28: Consumer survey: perception of store brand household cleaning products compared to well-known brands, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 63
Table 29: Consumer survey: the propensity to buy private label or store-brand cleaning or laundry products to save money, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 64
Table 30: Consumer survey: influence of brand image on household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 66
Table 31: Consumer survey: the extent to which habit and preferred brand influence consumers' household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 67
Table 32: Consumer survey: influence of free product samples on household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 69
Table 33: Consumer survey: influence of recommendations from friends/family influence on household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 70
Table 34: Consumer survey: agreement that housework is not enjoyable, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 75
Table 35: Consumer survey: agreement that there is not enough time to thoroughly clean the home as much as desired, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 76
Table 36: Consumer survey: influence of the product's promise on household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 79
Table 37: Consumer survey: influence of multi-purpose benefits on household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 80
Table 38: Consumer survey: the importance attributed to minimizing the amount of time consumers spend doing housework, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 83
Table 39: Consumer survey: influence of time-saving benefits on consumers' household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 84
Table 40: Consumer survey: influence of ease of use on household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 87
Table 41: Consumer survey: influence of ease of storage on household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 88
Table 42: Consumer survey: credibility of performance claims made by household cleaning products, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 90
Table 43: Consumer survey: credibility of advertising that shows the results gained by using household cleaning and/or laundry products, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country 2008 91
Table 44: Consumer survey: stated concern about over-packaging in household good categories, in 15 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific, South America and the US, by country, 2008 95
Table 45: Consumer survey: the frequency with which consumers actively avoid household care products or services on the basis of a company's poor environmental or ethical reputation, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 97
Table 46: Consumer survey: the frequency with which consumers buy minimum or reduced packaging cleaning or laundry products, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 98
Table 47: Consumer survey: importance attached to knowing that the household products used are formulated in an environmentally friendly manner, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 100
Table 48: Consumer survey: influence of ethics/sustainability benefits on household cleaning and laundry product choices, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 102
Table 49: Consumer survey: propensity to choose products with ethical/environmental benefits, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2009 103
Table 50: Consumer survey: credibility of the environmental claims made by household care brands, in 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, by country, 2008 105
Table 51: Scouring products market value and per capita expenditure, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2003-13 123
Table 52: Scouring products market value across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by region, by sub-category, 2008 124
Table 53: Insecticides market value and expenditure per capita, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2003-13 125
Table 54: Insecticides market value across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by region and sub-category, 2008 126
Table 55: Furniture polish market value and expenditure per capita, in 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by country, 2003-13 127
Table 56: Furniture polish market value, across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, by region, by sub-category, 2008 128
List of Figures
Figure 1: A range of drivers and inhibitors affect the consumer preference for a sterile environment 7
Figure 2: The amount of importance attached to maintaining a clean and hygienic living environment is greater than the perception of being houseproud 8
Figure 3: Household care new product launches by region, 2008-09 11
Figure 4: Trend development is dictated by both 'consumer pull' and 'manufacturer push', and Datamonitor offers the intelligence tools to capitalize on this reality 12
Figure 5: The top claims associated with newly introduced general purpose cleaners reflect consumers' growing demand for more 'virtuous formulation' and 'virtuous production', as well as the escalating private label threat that meets their intensifying value-for-money expectations 15
Figure 6: There was a notable spike in global private label toilet care product launches in 2008-09 17
Figure 7: Premiumization has been a high-growth innovation theme in new global air freshener product introductions between 2005 and 2009 20
Figure 8: More virtuous claims are among the leading product tags for newly introduced bleach products, but there is not a clear direction in the pattern of innovation in the category overall 22
Figure 9: No phosphate formulations began to gain momentum in 2009 and Datamonitor expects this to remain an important theme in innovation going into the new decade 25
Figure 10: The wellbeing factor induced from having a clean home is something that the overwhelming majority of consumers can relate to 27
Figure 11: There is a relatively strong similarity between the attitude that cleaning can be therapeutic and the perceived influence of therapeutic benefits on consumers' overall motivation to do the cleaning 30
Figure 12: Consumer survey: main factors affecting air quality in European and US homes, by country, 2006 34
Figure 13: Agreement that regular household cleaning reduced the chances of illness exceeds stated concern about in-home air quality 35
Figure 14: Large segments of emerging market consumers lack access to basic sanitation, which is a contributory factor to the extra sensitivity towards hygiene and cleanliness in general 38
Figure 15: More than one in five global respondents express extreme concern about the safety or harshness of chemicals used in household cleaning agents, yet far fewer perceive the efficacy claims of natural ingredients to be credible 42
Figure 16: SCJ has recognized that household care shoppers do, and will increasingly, value reassurances and transparency about how products are produced 43
Figure 17: The halo surrounding natural product formulation is more pronounced in developing countries 46
Figure 18: Scent can be classified by its ambience and congruency 49
Figure 19: Vanilla and citrus stand out for being both prominent and high-growth claims in global household care product introductions in 2008-09 52
Figure 20: Perhaps influenced by intense recessionary pressures, consumers attributed less importance to scent/fragrance in 2009 than 2008, with South Korea being the only exception 52
Figure 21: Only in Japan do less than half of consumers perceive that they do not routinely buy household cleaning or laundry products on the basis of value for money 57
Figure 22: Household care consumers are heavily influenced by price-consciousness and promotion-consciousness, but not necessarily to the extent of these being absolute determinants of choice 59
Figure 23: Private label household cleaning brands are widely considered to be either identical or superior to market-leading alternatives 62
Figure 24: Consumers are generally more influenced by habit than brand image when purchasing household cleaning products 65
Figure 25: Wider marketing-orientated issues are not perceived to be highly influential by the majority of global consumers when choosing household care products 68
Figure 26: Adopting a relentless approach to delivering and communicating better value for money than the competition is crucial 71
Figure 27: There are at least two broad dimensions of convenience that influence household care consumers 72
Figure 28: The majority of consumers both dislike household chores and feel constrained by time scarcity 74
Figure 29: Close to half of consumers perceive efficacy and multi-purpose benefits to be highly influential in their choice of household care products 78
Figure 30: Nearly two thirds of consumers attach high importance to minimizing the time spent doing housework which is higher than the proportion who deem time-saving benefits to have a high degree of influence over what household products they opt for 82
Figure 31: Datamonitor believes that urbanization and mobility will continue to have a significant impact on consumer lifestyles going forward in ways that also shape household care product requirements 85
Figure 32: When choosing household care products, ease of use is deemed more important across all countries surveyed than ease of storage 86
Figure 33: Promoting performance in a straightforward and unsophisticated manner is likely to make little difference to consumers and may even be perceived as being annoying as well as superfluous 89
Figure 34: Skeptical consumerism: there are four reasons why trust and ethos based branding are of increasing importance in consumer goods generally and household care more specifically 92
Figure 35: Sustainability and ethics will drive a higher number of commercial and consumer decisions, creating change across the value chain 93
Figure 36: The packaging of household goods is of the greatest concern to UK consumers 95
Figure 37: More than a quarter of consumers are regularly buying household care products with minimum/reduced packaging 96
Figure 38: In the more developed consumer markets only around one of five to six consumers are heavily influenced by ethics and environmentalism in the product choices that they make 101
Figure 39: Many consumers are deeply skeptical about large corporations claiming to go green 104
Figure 40: Numerous issues influence consumers' household care product choice, so marketers need to be wary of one-dimensional promotions 107
Figure 41: Some groups refer to household cleaners as hazardous, which is clearly a perception not in the interests of the industry 108
Figure 42: SCJ has developed a special website to communicate the specific of how the company's brands are formulated 109
Figure 43: Traceability initiatives effectively support the overall branding efforts of products 110
Figure 44: The success of Clorox demonstrates that green cleaning has credibility 112
Figure 45: Recent NPD activity from both larger and niche providers demonstrates the growing presence of green cleaning 114
Figure 46: In the UK, Method focuses on branding itself as "people against dirty" and uses events such as "toxic turn-in days" to promote its eco-friendly credentials 115
Figure 47: Also in the UK, Unilever's Persil brand is at the center of the wider Cleaner Planet Plan that is less focused on the ingredients used in products and more the broader issues associated with the planet's resources 116
Figure 48: Most consumers are aware of, and concerned about, the negative health effects of poor home hygiene, which gives industry players an opportunity to enhance the 'wellbeing factor' of a given company or sub-brand 117
Figure 49: To help differentiate in response to private label threat, household care manufacturers must excel in the provision of factors associated with the PPI 119
Figure 50: The examples below exude higher value, more effective and more convenient solutions to help protect against the pervasive private label threat 121
Figure 51: Private label was the leading product tag for newly introduced Scouring Pad products launched in 2008-09 124
Figure 52: Long-lasting and natural were the leading tags for newly introduced insecticides in 2009 126
Figure 53: Upscale was the leading furniture polish claim in 2009 128