KEY POINTS:
More New Zealanders are considering cosmetic surgery and think the 60s is the new middle-age but are not so convinced about twentysomethings living at home, an internet survey has revealed.
ACNielsen said an internet survey, conducted in 41 markets worldwide, has revealed New Zealand consumers' attitudes toward age, cosmetic surgery as they get older, and living in the parental home into your late 20s.
ACNielsen executive director Susanna Baggaley said New Zealand's internet consumers agreed with the rest of the world that they were happy to turn back the hands of time.
Sixty-one per cent of New Zealanders agreed the 40s were the new 30s, 59 per cent agreed the 60s were the new middle age, and more than half considered the 30s the new 20s.
In New Zealand, more than half of those surveyed embraced the idea of turning back the clock, she said.
In particularly, 60 per cent of women agreed that the 30s were the new 20s, compared to 46 per cent of men; 68 per cent of women thought 40s the new 30s, compared to 55 per cent of men; and 65 per cent of women thought 60s the new middle age, compared to 53 per cent of men, she said.
"As you may expect, opinions were stronger based on respondents' current experience or forthcoming expectation of the age group in question. So people in their 20s and 30s were most in agreement that 30s are the new 20s -- 55 per cent of 21-29 year olds and 58 per cent of 30-39 year olds agreed that your 30s are the new 20s."
Despite a majority of Kiwi respondents who would not consider cosmetic surgery when they are older, one in five were open to the idea, she said.
People aged 18-24 were the most receptive to cosmetic surgery with 37 per cent, she said.
Ms Baggaley said the result was possibly because people were growing up in a world where cosmetic surgery was widely accepted and even normalised through the media.
"Living in the first decade of the 21st century, the goalposts have moved. 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."
When it came to remaining in the parental home until a person's late 20s, opinion were different on either side of the Tasman with only 46 per cent of Kiwis agreeing it was okay compared to 64 per cent of Aussies, she said.
"One reason may be that Kiwis are accepting that to go to university sometimes means moving away from their home town. In Australia, it is quite common for students to attend university in the city they dwell enabling them to live with their parents for a longer period of time."
The survey, conducted mid-year, polled about 22,780 internet users in 41 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, North America to the Baltics.
- NZPA
