The changing role of men: retro or metro?

Author: Sarah Boumphrey

Date published: 8 Oct 2007

Whether men are going "metro" or "retro", sexual equality is here to stay and will undoubtedly strengthen in the future. More women than men will make financial decisions affecting the home, while men will play a greater role in housework and raising children. Also reflecting the change in social attitudes, men also began to pay more attention to their personal appearance, having a positive effect on markets such as men's clothing, accessories and toiletries.

Euromonitor International's latest Strategy Briefing “The changing role of men: How this is affecting purchasing habits” examines the drivers, the consumer market opportunities and the trends to watch.

An increase in the number of males in the home caregiver role has implications in terms of widening the range of products that men regard as acceptable, and targeting more household goods and children's products at the male market.

Also reflecting the change in social attitudes, men also began to pay more attention to their personal appearance, having a positive effect on markets such as men's clothing, accessories and toiletries.

Companies often use the term "metrosexual" as a marketing tool to provoke men to take an interest in personal appearance. The ploy has proved successful, with toiletries exclusively for men making strong sales gains in many markets over the review period;

In developed markets, the metrosexual is said to be giving way to the "ubersexual", who is at the same time macho but still in touch with his feminine side; unafraid to cook, think and have a personal style, he is said to have a more balanced and intelligent approach to shopping;

Marketers have also identified the "retrosexual", who rejects metrosexuality in favour of old-school masculinity. The retrosexual implies a heterosexual man with little aesthetic sense, who spends little time or money on either his appearance or his lifestyle.

There has been much speculation in the press as to whether the metrosexual concept is on its way out, or still in full flow. Whatever the case, there seems little doubt that an important change in male behaviour has already taken place, such that the behaviour classified in the past as metrosexual is likely, for today's male tweens and tweens, to become "normal" when they mature. Men of the future will realise that they can be strong and masculine while still caring for their appearance, and without needing to display loutish behaviour. This augurs very well for the male fashion and cosmetics and toiletries industries.

As a result of these trends, men are likely to demand increasingly sophisticated products and services, such as spa treatments, facial cleansing, hair removal and cosmetic surgery, over the forecast period.