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Some eight out of 10 Korean men in their 20s and 30s believe that outward appearance is important for success. If that is true, just how far are Korean men willing to go to fix their looks? To coincide with the Korean launch of the fitness magazine Men's Health, the monthly teamed up with AGB Nielsen Media Research to administer a survey of 500 Korean men between 25 and 37.
A whopping 86 percent of respondents agreed that a healthy body and a well-balanced figure increase their competitiveness. Some 83 percent said a good body and figure ˇ°are closely linkedˇ± to success. But only 43.8 percent said that they were happy with their bodies.
Asked what they considered the most important factor for first impressions, 56 percent cited fashion sense, 22.2 percent said way of speaking and deportment, followed by physique (17.6 percent) and hairstyle (10.2 percent). To fix their image, most wanted to change their fashion sense (40.2 percent), followed by their physique (23.0 percent), manner of speaking and deportment (20.6 percent), and hairstyle (16.2 percent).
The average amount of time respondents spent to improve their bodies was two hours a day, and 31.6 percent said they exercise regularly. The most common exercise was weight-training at 50.6 percent, although most respondents or 60.5 percent said they would rather play golf. Apart from exercise, 47.2 percent said they control their food intake and 10.4 percent said they diet to keep in shape.
Korean men in their 20s or 30s are estimated to spend a monthly average W29,000 (US$29) on beauty products. Men have an average of 4.3 different beauty products and 1.6 bottles of cologne. The vast majority use lotions, with 16.2 percent saying they used shaving creams, 11.2 percent body lotion, 11.2 percent hand cream and 9 percent facial foam cleanser.
Men are estimated to invest W92,000 a month in their wardrobe, buying shirts, pants and ties. The colognes of Bulgari (25.3 percent) and Channel (25.3 percent) were the most popular.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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