First Quarterly "China Mom Index" Series of Survey Results Released in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, Sept. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Recently, the first series of reports of the China Mom Index were unveiled in Shanghai. The China Mom Index is a joint effort between babytree.com, the most influential parenting website in China, and Ogilvy China. Several valuable survey results about Chinese mothers, represented by Happiness Index of Chinese Mothers and including Career Challenges for New Mothers and Report of the First Study on Digital Camera Brands in Chinese Household, are fully released to the public for the first time and shared widely.  

The report shows：

●Greater urban development does not translate to greater happiness for moms. "Pressure" is becoming a key word of concern for moms.

According to China Mom's happiness index, among provinces, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Beijing and Shandong rank in the top five spots.

●Help new mothers juggle the dual pressure of career-building and child-rearing

Upon returning to work, 32% of new mothers find that their salaries can no longer meet their needs, due to increased costs of living. Secondly, apprehension about leaving their kids in the hands of grandparents at home becomes another important factor having an impact on the job performance of new moms.

●Digital Cameras - SLR and cell-phone cameras are trendy, while point-and-shoot cameras face uncertain future

The report clearly show the development paths of all DC brands in China: Japanese brands Cannon (21.9%), Sony (17.1%) and Nikon (16.3%) are the most favored DC brands.

The China Mom Index was launched officially on May 4th, 2011. It is the first Chinese online index with the express purpose of measuring and keeping track of the happiness of Chinese mothers, and providing a comprehensive view of the latest developments and trends in the mother- and baby-care market. By uncovering and publicizing the true state of the Chinese mother and baby, it aims to raise the level of awareness, attention, and assistance that society brings to mothers, thereby improving their state of existence. And through the various products and services survey results, it seeks to help manufacturers and service providers gain a deeper and more accurate understanding of mothers' needs, and thereby serve the Chinese family more effectively.

At the press conference, Kunal Sinha, the Chief Knowledge Officer of Ogilvy China, introduces that these series of reports are produced on the basis of the more than eight million registered users as well as unregistered browsers of babytree.com. Users participate in monthly surveys that are designed jointly by Babytree and the Ogilvy Discovery Team, and online discussions, providing data that are then dissected and analyzed to produce authoritative and scientifically sound results. These results are released regularly to the public to provide insights into the lifestyle and state of the Chinese mom in the workplace, at home, and in society. Furthermore, Ogilvy will perform detailed analyses of the data to provide useful recommendations to brand-name enterprises and employers, allowing them to put the survey results to use in their operations.  

Sinha explains, "The connection and communication between brands and mothers are weakening. And the series reports of the China Mom Index will help brands to find effective means to solve practical problems mothers encounter in their lives, thereby improving their quality of life and bringing them closer to happiness."

[Greater urban development does not translate to greater happiness for moms. "Pressure" is becoming a key word of concern for moms. ]

As the most important component of the China Mom Index, the Happiness Index of Chinese Mothers was kicked off in May 2011, when Babytree and Ogilvy China started conducting recurring surveys, that, on a monthly basis, measure and track feelings of happiness among Chinese mothers. The survey questionnaires are designed by both parties based on scientific analysis of relevant information, and answers are solicited from qualified users on babytree.com.

"The sad truth is, according to a global survey, while the GDP of China ranked first amongst developing countries, the happiness index of Chinese mothers ranked only 18th. There are several million Chinese mothers who are active on Babytree.com, so we are eager to know whether they feel happy and what underlies their lower sense of happiness."

Allen Huainan Wang, founder and CEO of Babytree, introduces that at the beginning of the questionnaire design process, the data analysis team of Babytree and Ogilvy Discovery team all thought that the level of sense of happiness for Chinese mothers was strongly influenced by three facets of their lives: the growth stage of their children, their own life conditions and the empathy of relatives and colleagues. These are also the same facets used to gauge mothers' happiness levels internationally.

"We classify factors determining happiness index of mothers into these three categories, each of which includes three or four questions. The most important questions relate to children's education, life pressure experienced and the level of help from relatives; the survey results show that because of significant differences in urban development, living conditions, education levels, social conditions and family relations among different areas, the happiness index of mothers in various areas are markedly different." As main author of the questionnaire, Sinha adds: "Through this survey, we have found differences between southern and northern parts of the country, as well as the factors contributing to the sense of happiness for each province and municipality. Cities can use these valuable reference data to effectively raise the state of subsistence for mothers."

The survey report released this time publicizes the happiness index rankings for mothers living in all thirty one provinces (except for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), and all top- and second-tier cities. Among provinces, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Beijing and Shandong rank in the top five spots. And among top- and 2nd-tier cities, those in the South are generally ranked higher, with Kunming occupying the top spot. "We compared answers of Kunming mothers on the questionnaire with those of other cities and found that lower pressure was the main reason that mothers living in this city felt much happier." Allen Wang explains.    

Furthermore, the survey results of happiness index of Chinese mothers also reveal the relationship that exist between mother's child-bearing age, children's age and the sense of happiness of mothers. In particular, mothers bearing children late have significantly higher happiness index than mothers bearing children early. This relationship trends upwards steadily as a function of child-bearing age in the range of 20 to 30, but becomes unpredictable beyond 30.  

"There are many reasons why mothers bearing children late will feel much happier, including maturity of mind and mental attitude, steady family relations and decreasing economical pressure. We can see from the online discussions in the Babytree community that mothers bearing children late tend to have much less anxiety than younger mothers when faced with the problems of baby growth, education and parent-child relationship, and also tend to be more mature in the ways they deal with these problems."

Allen Wang elaborates that this survey also analyzes the relationship between children's age and happiness index of mothers, and the results obtained are in line with results obtained in similar surveys internationally. Namely, the birth of babies will bring strong feelings of contentment to mothers, but such feelings will gradually subside as the babies grow to about two, as mothers experience all kinds of pressure and difficulties that get worse with time. When children are two years old and will soon attend kindergarten, the happiness sense of mothers will start to rise again because of the greater sensibility of the children and changes in their lifestyle upon kindergarten attendance. The increase in happiness continues until children go to primary school, at which time, new growth problems will surface and happiness index declines.  

"It is thus evident that mothers with children aged 1-2 have much stronger desire for greater happiness, and this should be noted by society and enterprises alike." Allen Wang says that Babytree and Ogilvy will continue to investigate and analyze the Chinese mothers, and hope to bring more attention and care from more people to this important group.

[Help new mothers juggle the dual pressure of career-building and child-rearing.]

While analyzing the happiness index of Chinese mother, teams of Babytree and Ogilvy all found that working and economic pressure are two important factors affecting happiness of Chinese mothers. "Both sources of pressure have to do with the return to the workplace for new mothers, hence, to fully understand the happiness of new mothers, we need to understand the challenges they face upon returning to work," Sinha explains.

Therefore, in order to understand the work and life conditions of new mothers after their return to the workplace, and the difficulties they face, the China Mom Index delved into the 2700 Chinese new mothers living in urban areas by exploring their satisfaction levels toward life, the choice they face between career woman and fulltime housewife, and their attitudes and worries about their jobs.

The survey results show that when viewing their present life, about 20% of mothers feel their lives are too unexciting, another 20% are dissatisfied with one aspect of life or another, and only 15% mothers feel very happy and satisfied.  

The survey further finds that, more than half of career moms have thought about quitting their jobs on account of their babies, but did not put the thought into action due to social and economic pressures. Upon returning to work, 32% of new mothers find that their salaries can no longer meet their needs, due to increased costs of living. Secondly, apprehension about leaving their kids in the hands of grandparents at home becomes another important factor having an impact on the job performance of new moms.

To alleviate these worries, Sinha suggests some high-tech solutions for moms who leave their babies at home for work. For instance, moms can have some web cameras installed at home to monitor their children and caregivers in real-time. Or enterprises can provide some infant formula foods, clothes, even diapers for mothers. "Employers can prepare some ''Welcome back' gift packs for new mothers to help them ease back into and feel the joy of work upon returning to the workplace."

In addition, the employers of new mothers should prepare for changing mental attitudes too. In general, companies are used to fully loading their employees and can't tolerate their employees working only part-time. In these companies, people usually share the opinion that only sitting at desk means you are working. "In that case, would these employers consider permitting new mothers to do some work at home? "Sinha also raises this question to the enterprise guests present.

[Digital Cameras - SLR and cell-phone cameras are trendy, while point-and-shoot cameras face uncertain future.]

As it tends to Chinese moms, the China Mom Index also bears the responsibility of providing authoritative data analysis of related product areas for brands catering to moms and babies. Over the course of a year, it will release research on and observations of products and services in multiple areas such as digital products, mother and infant foods, daily necessities and education institutions. Coming from the original online destination for Chinese family photo albums (babytree.com), the usage study of digital cameras in Chinese families becomes the first product-related report released presently.

According to Frank Lee, Vice President of Babytree.com, Babytree did statistical analysis of the EXIF information (EXchangeable Image File format, which contains information on the camera used to capture each photo) of more than two hundred millions photos that have been uploaded to the Babytree website as of July 2011.The analysis leads to the first ever report on digital camera brands in Chinese families, published jointly by Babytree and Ogilvy China. The report provides a complete and accurate view of brand market share, brand concentration, rate of brand switch and brand loyalty.

This report can clearly show the development paths of all DC brands in China: Japanese brands Cannon (21.9%), Sony (17.1%) and Nikon (16.3%) are the most favored DC brands. Eight of the top ten brands are from Japan. The concentration level of brands is very high: the top three brands occupy more than 50% market share, the top six brands carve up more than 80% share, while the top nine brands hold more than 90% share. Analysis based on digital camera models shows that SLR (single-lens-reflex) cameras occupy 14 of top 20 models, indicating that parents would spare no expense when it comes to capturing the special moments as their children grow. It is also important to note that cell phone cameras are becoming more and more popular as they occupy 15-16% market share. Nokia is the number four camera brand in terms of market share. While iPhone cell phone camera occupies only 1.23% share, its usage increased 275% in 2010 and continues to rise sharply.

"We have reason to believe that cell phone cameras and SLR cameras will become the dominant imaging resources in the coming year, while the future of point-and-shoot cameras is less certain. It may be on its way to obsolescence due to the greater convenience and increasingly powerful configurations of cell phone cameras; or, it may surge again in popularity due to some revolutionary innovation. Babytree, Ogilvy and all people paying attention to development of DC brands will wait and see," Lee says.    

To make the series reports of the China Mom Index more authoritative and encourage more people to take part in the surveys, Babytree will continue to propose more online survey topics closely related to the lives of young mothers, and engage them in in-depth conversations, so as to understand their usage patterns of baby- and mother- care products such as children's clothing, milk powder, toys, as well as family-related products such as cars.

Allen Wang says: "The series reports of the China Mom Index will systematically and scientifically present the life of the Chinese mother, thereby deepening society's understanding of this group, and improving the conditions in which children are raised. We have reason to believe that it will provide the most true-to-life, the most relevant and most authoritative life portrait of young Chinese families, and become the most reliable source of information for the industry."

More information about China mom's happiness index

China's Tiger Moms Debate Parenting Styles; Babytree.com Helps

The Site is Like a Local Facebook for New Parents and Also Measures Their 'Happiness Index' in Project With Ogilvy

View this report, please click here .

About babytree.com

Babytree.com, referred to as the Chinese Facebook for kids and parents by CNN.com and the Washington Post, is an online space where parents can 1) share their family stories, pictures and videos; 2) acquire parenting knowledge; 3) network with other parents; and 4) review, rate and purchase baby, and household related products.

Launched on March 8, 2007, the power of babytree.com rests in its ability to engage Chinese parents, who are known for their devotion to the young and, at the same time, are in desperate need of finding other parents for knowledge and experience sharing. These parents consume an average of 85 page views per day on babytree.com, a site stickiness measure that is even higher than that of Facebook. With an overall loving, and caring community atmosphere, seamlessly integrated internet products such as blog, online albums, SNS, web game, knowledge sharing platform, babytree.com is seen as one of the best-positioned businesses to meet such needs, and to tap into the economic benefits of related spending in such areas as baby products, household related products, education and etc.  

About Ogilvy Discovery

Ogilvy Discovery is the consumer insights and trends unit of Ogilvy & Mather Greater China. The Discovery team tracks changes in consumer culture, the evolution in influences on the choices that people make - both in their lives and brands, and the social context of consumption. In the last five years, the Discovery team has done large scale studies on the sustainability opportunity for brands in China, consumers and brand opportunities in the lower tier cities, the value of creativity in China, Chinese nationalism and its impact on brands, China's senior citizens, the nature of online influence on the millions of Chinese netizen, and ethnographic comparisons between the social influences on decision making among the middle class in India and China. Ogilvy Discovery also publishes a monthly digital newsletter called "Cool Path" that tracks and reports cutting-edge trends in China.

About Ogilvy & Mather

Ogilvy & Mather is one of the largest marketing communications companies in the world. Through its specialty units, the company provides a comprehensive range of marketing services including: advertising; public relations and public affairs; branding and identity; shopper and retail marketing; healthcare communications; direct, digital, promotion and relationship marketing. Ogilvy & Mather services Fortune Global 500 companies as well as local businesses through its network of more than 450 offices in 120 countries. It is a WPP company (NASDAQ: WPPGY). For more information, visit www.ogilvy.com.

SOURCE Babytree.com

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