Women’s Marketing Inc. has useful new data on multicultural beauty consumer behavior

Andrea Van Dam, CEO of Women's Marketing Inc., shared select data from the study this month at Cosmoprof North America in Las Vegas, Nevada, focusing on information that can help brands build consumer loyalty in the current beauty marketplace (where Amazon is gaining market share).

Data mining ​

Women’s Marketing Inc. surveyed 1,000 women across the US, from a range of backgrounds and age groups.

The resulting data will usefully inform the future of beauty. “Women's Marketing's research effort to understand women not only as consumers, but as shoppers, arms [brands] with deeper insights to leverage as they help brands develop smarter strategies from planning through activation,” ​Debbie Kelly, engagement manager at Seurat Group, tells the press.  

Feeling fickle ​

Consumer loyalty is a matter of concern for emerging and legacy brands alike. With the fast pace of digital media and beauty trends, it can be hard to capture the attention and dollars of any consumer for long. It’s a phenomenon that Women’s Marketing Inc. is well aware of: “Why settle down with one brand when there are so many exciting options to choose from?” ​the company imagines consumers asking.

“For beauty enthusiasts, the thrill is in the hunt—she’s not disloyal, she’s eager to experiment, enthusiastic to try, and always hoping that she’ll find ‘the one’.”​

Decisions, decisions  ​

Quite a lot goes in to beauty product purchase decisions. Regardless of category, Women’s Marketing Inc. found that 48% of women decide to buy because of sale price or discount; for 34% pleasant fragrance matters; 32% look for high quality packaging; and 28% of women seek out specific benefit claims.

Looking at skin care and hair care purchasing decisions separately, the media strategy company found some variations.

63% of hair care shoppers read the packaging, while only 57% of skin care shoppers do the same. Scent factors in highly too: 48% of hair care consumers smell a product before deciding to buy it as do 34% of skin care consumers. A fair number of women opt to try a product before they buy: 21% of hair care consumers sample and 39% of skin care consumers do.

When looking for advice or recommendations, only 12% of hair care buyers ask a store associate. That, in contrast to 31% of skin care shoppers, according to the Women’s Marketing Inc. data. And of course consumers turn to their phones too: 23% of hair care shoppers conduct product research on mobile as do 18% of skin care shoppers.