Amidst challenges and opportunities, China’s mother and baby consumer market has continued to grow with the times. Despite a decrease in the number of newborns due to reduced fertility intentions, the expansion of the government’s child-rearing subsidy policy and the rapid development of the mobile internet continue to promote the growth and online progress of China’s mother and baby industry. Recently, Kantar in collaboration with Massive Engine released the “Nurturing by Heart, Seeing Growth: 2024 Mother and Baby Industry White Paper.” The report, based on “people-place-product,” explores the “three new values” of the Douyin platform in the mother and baby consumer market, namely new demographics, new territories, and new products.
China’s Mother and Baby Market Development and Consumer Insights
Under the pressure of economic transformation, Chinese residents’ consumer spending has maintained a relatively stable growth rate, demonstrating strong resilience. Thanks to pro-natalist policies, subsidies, and the robust environmental context, despite the total fertility rate in China falling from 1.5-1.6 in 2010 to 1.3 in 2020, the size of the mother and baby market has continued to grow steadily amidst these challenges, with an increasingly apparent shift online. Chinese mother and baby consumers rely more on online channels when purchasing food, supplies, and care products, gathering all kinds of information and price comparisons online before making purchasing decisions.
The development of China’s mother and baby market benefits from the updated child-rearing concepts of the younger generation and their upgraded demands for mother and baby products. Families born in the post-90s and post-95s have entered a crucial period of child-rearing, with these new concept- and attitude-bearing parents becoming the mainstream consumer group for mother and baby categories. Multiple-child childbirth is more concentrated in lower-tier cities, and homes with infants and babies represent a higher proportion, with diverse needs driving consumption diversification; higher-tier cities have a higher proportion of families with teenagers, and families tend to concentrate resources on their only child. The report shows that child-rearing costs are a major fixed expenditure for families, with consumer levels graded according to the income and living costs of consumers in different city tiers. Mothers remain the main support in raising and caring for children, while fathers have become indispensable assisting members, with the whole family teaming up to raise children becoming mainstream.
Exploring the Value of “Three New” in the Mother and Baby Field
The report delves into the “three new values” of the Douyin platform in the mother and baby consumer market based on “people-place-product,” which include:
New Demographics – Douyin platform covers seven distinctive parenting demographics:
- Pregnant Dreamers in High-tier Cities: Young pregnant mothers in high-tier cities, where there is a low tendency for childbirth, facing the entirely new field of parenting with idealistic anticipation. They expect to face the challenges of parenting life with the support and assistance of family members while dreaming of their children being unrestricted, returning to the authenticity of being human, and enjoying a free and happy growth process.
- Quality-Seeking Moms of Only Children: Mothers who have an only child at home, strive to create a quality and prosperous growing environment for their children while focusing on their all-around development, not only in terms of physical health but also in cultivating their emotional management skills and social abilities. They consider these qualities indispensable for the growth of their children.
- Countryside Multiple-child Moms: These moms, often from third or fourth-tier cities, face the challenge of raising multiple children. Although the attention of the family members is divided among more children, it fosters independence. Balancing quantity with the quality of individual upbringing, they become savvy consumers, making the most reasonable choices within a limited budget – they are pragmatists focused on cost-effectiveness, concentrating most of their energy and attention on the family and children’s growth.
- Academic Moms with Two Children: Committed to scientific parenting, these moms are keen to absorb various types of information from different channels, actively learning parenting knowledge, holding an idealistic vision for their children’s future growth, and hoping that they can discover their interests and potentials through free exploration. They advocate for an idealized way of parenting that balances love and nurture, expecting their children to maximize their interests and potentials in such an environment.
- Ultraman Moms of School-aged Children: Mothers whose children are in the elementary school phase—a critical period in their learning journey that is full of curiosity and enthusiasm. These mothers not only actively sign their children up for various interest classes but also strive to bring their children to different activities and travel, making their lives full and colorful. By adopting an active and positive educational approach, they guide children to overcome small challenges in learning and life, growing and progressing together like “defeating monsters.”
- Enthusiastic Cheongsam Moms with High-School Age Children: With children facing crucial exams in high school, academic performance and scholarly representation become the primary focus of the family. Although their children’s daily lives are occupied with various tutoring courses, which somewhat limits the pace and space of their lives, mothers, as perfect logistic members, not only actively encourage their children but also invest financially to provide for their clothing and other necessities, creating a favorable environment for learning and living.
- Elite Dads of Young Kids: A portion of fathers, being the backbone of the household, start joining the main parenting force, becoming the strongest support for the mothers. They adopt a positive encouragement pedagogy, devoted to fostering a well-rounded and harmonious development of their children from a young age. These dads have a high awareness of education and a strong sense of family responsibility, willing to invest the necessary time and energy to create a healthy, harmonious, and loving growth space for their children.
