Cosmetic surgery is fast gaining acceptance: Study

The thirties are the new twenties, and the sixties the new middle age, if the findings of a recent AC Nielsen study are anything to go by.

In an Internet study conducted across 41 markets globally, 22,780 consumers were asked about their attitude towards age and cosmetic surgery.

The rush to 'turn back the clock' is most keenly felt by consumers across Europe and Asia Pacific. Of the top 10 markets, which agreed that the forties were the new thirties, Austria topped the list, while among the Asia-Pacific countries, which included Japan and Korea, India emerged one of the top ten.

Close to 70 per cent of Indians "� both men and women "� agreed that the thirties were the new twenties and the forties were the new thirties compared with the global average of about 60 per cent.

When it came to terming the sixties as the new middle age, women, with 64 per cent of them agreeing, substantially outnumbered men, of whom 47 per cent agreed to the proposition.

East Asian countries such as Japan and Korea ranked the highest on this scale with 75 per cent of the respondents agreeing to the statement.

"We are living longer than previous generations, significantly increasing the number of years we are old, relative to the years we are young. When we look around we see a lot of instances where people are doing extremely well when they are in their 50s-60s," said Sarang Panchal, executive director - AC Nielsen customised research, South Asia.

Further, one of the 20 respondents was open to going in for a cosmetic surgery to look younger. In India, 12 per cent of the people were willing to undergo a cosmetic surgery when they grew old.

"In India, the younger generation's adaptability to fashion, trends and lifestyle is growing at a faster pace than that of the older generation. Cosmetic surgery being a relatively new service and the country not being a mature market for it, the chances of reference check are also significantly low," Panchal said.

This could be attributed to the tendency of keeping the older generation away from trying something as critical in terms of making a hole in the pocket as experimenting with one's look, he added.

"Our perspective on what constitutes a 'young adult', 'old' or 'middle-aged', and the lifestyle and behaviour appropriate to each of these phases in our lives has changed accordingly. Stereotypes are being broken, requiring marketers to find new ways to communicate and connect with their target consumers," Panchal said.