There’s a huge social shift taking place in the personal services industry. Dozens of services that were once seen as for women only are now attracting large numbers of male customers. It’s gotten to the point where some kinds of providers, like massage therapists for example, have about even numbers of men and women visit their clinics. In other areas, men are showing up at salons for hair styling, manicures, pedicures, and facials, a change that reflects the blurring of traditional gender norms around personal grooming.
Yet another facet of the overall trend is for men to pay for medical esthetics and use payment plans to cover the costs. Beyond that, there are still more changes taking place. Members of both sexes are showing up in almost equal numbers for piercings, bodywork other than massage, and to buy jewelry. The official term is body modification and adornment, and the entire industry is growing thanks to the large number of males who are finally deciding to become regular customers. Here are some specific examples.
Medical Esthetics
Consumers across all age groups, lifestyles, income levels, and genders are booking appointments at medical esthetics practices. Nowadays, both males and females are discovering the multiple benefits of specialized treatments and services. One of the main driving forces behind the change is the growing availability of payment plans and commonsense financing options. For more than 10,000 med spas, prospective and current customers can enroll in financing plans in a matter of minutes. The whole idea is to break up total costs into manageable monthly installment payments that range from $200 to $10,000.
The setup gives clients the chance to spread out their investment dollars over time while enjoying immediate bookings and minimal financial stress. Patients can preserve cash flow and remove barriers to getting treatment, but practitioners get plenty of benefits too. Not only can they boost customer acceptance rates, but they can also attract more clients, sell more services, and get paid upfront. Another benefit for both owners and consumers is that the payment plans seamlessly integrate with the top loyalty ecosystem, specifically Allē, the rewards program for BOTOX Cosmetic, JUVÉDERM Fillers, and related products.
Salon Services
Walk into any neighborhood salon and look around. It’s still a mostly female clientele, but there are quite a few guys showing up for a range of services. Why do male customers book salon treatments? In addition to hair styling, they pay for pedicures, manicures, facials, microdermabrasion, waxing, eyebrow treatment, and more. What started the change in customer demographics? For starters, salon owners recently turned to male focused online advertising, guy friendly loyalty programs, masculine branding campaigns, partnerships with local gyms, and social media messaging to widen their reach.
In fact, the salon industry is evolving to welcome patrons of all ages, both sexes, and any background. Fortunately, the era of high-priced services is giving way to super saver discount packages, bundled services, lower prices for repeat customers, and seasonal specials. These kinds of shifts have helped salon owners stay afloat during tough economic times by marketing themselves as affordable, friendly destinations for anyone who wants to look better.
Piercing
In the mid-2020s, more males are getting piercings, and it’s not just for their ears. Ten years ago, the majority of piercing studio clients were women, but that has changed. Today, more guys are pursuing personal adornment as a non-traditional way of expressing their attitudes about physical attractiveness. Workplaces, schools, and communities everywhere no longer view a pierced body part as something strange.
The whole trend is about new concepts of masculinity, style, self-expression, social acceptance, and trendsetting. Studios are now expanding their offerings to welcome guys and ladies of all ages as body art becomes more mainstream. In fact, piercing shops are enjoying high demand as the new year approaches. Shops are highly visible in malls and as standalone venues. Men’s magazines feature plenty of photos of males with pierced ears, noses, lips, cheeks, and other body parts.
Jewelry
Another aspect of guy style changes in the 2020s is apparent in the jewelry business. Owners are increasingly targeting ads toward male audiences, which reflects a major shift in ideas about grooming and style. Only a generation ago, nearly all jewelry ads focused on women; today, the industry views guys as a lucrative and growing market segment. Some top selling items are cuff links, bracelets, rings, masculine chains, and personalized earrings. They’re all positioned for modern tastes.
The national jewelry franchise stores have gone all-in on the effort to advertise to both sexes. They’re putting male staff members behind sales counters, offering discounts on masculine items, and using men’s themes in ads and on billboards. The shift is part of a more gender neutral marketplace in which sellers depict their wares as versatile accessories for all occasions.
Massage & Bodywork
In the past two decades, the trend toward more men receiving massage and other bodywork services has gained a lot of momentum. The field has become increasingly competitive, and practitioners are investing in targeted advertising to bring male clients into their shops. However, women still make up the vast majority of customers. The balance is shifting, however, as more men seek relief from chronic tension, sports injuries, and stress.
One of the big changes is that the bodywork industry itself has struggled and succeeded in rebranding itself as a medical service that offers real benefits to men and women of all ages and income levels. For practitioners, the bottom line is that consumers now view bodywork, particularly therapeutic massage, as a legitimate form of preventive treatment and a valid way to rehabilitate the body after an injury or illness. These changes have helped therapists expand their practices far beyond traditional demographics and bring in more male customers.
F&F