STUDY OF SEGMENTATION FOR THE USERS OF PERSONAL CARE
PRODUCTS
Archana Y. Lahoti
Savitribai Phule Pune University, India
E-mail: lahoti_archana2006@yahoo.com
Dhiraj Jain
Symbiosis International University, India
E-mail: dhiraj.jain@scmspune.ac.in
Submission: 8/12/2020
Revision: 9/9/2020
Accept: 9/23/2020
ABSTRACT
Person care products (PCP) occupies a major chunk of the market thus
making it a largest consumer sector in India. Today due to the media influence,
the consumers consider personal care products as a symbol of their life quality
and self-image. The objective of this research is to study demographic profile
of consumers in the field of personal care products and further segment them on
the basis of their buying motive and product preference. A survey of 706
respondents was conducted with structured questionnaire. The questionnaire had
demographic questions along with some specific questions to study and segment
the consumer group of personal care products. The data was analysed using
descriptive statistics and Clustering Analysis using SPSS V20. Clustering
Method is used to study group of respondents based on different set of
variables. The results of Clustering analysis reveal that marketing mix motives
such as product, price, buying convenience, promotional offers and the buying
and consumer value motives like quality, brand name, packaging, credibility,
natural ingredients and past product experience, plays a vital role while
purchasing Personal Care Products.
Keywords: Segmentation; Descriptive research design; Non
probability judgmental sampling; Structured questionnaire; Marketing mix
motives
1.
INTRODUCTION
Personal care product’s market is generally driven by
self-motivation of the consumers. It was observed that, despite demonetization
and economic turbulence, this market segment managed to grow annually at a rate
of 15-20% in 2016. Demand for herbal, natural & organic products, awareness
of personal hygiene and importance of personal grooming, and innovative new
products as per client requirements were the basic factors that helped the
industry to experiment with new products thus satisfying the consumers
requirement (Euromonitor, 2016).
Identification, anticipation and satisfaction of client
requirement are the fundamental function of marketing. Emerging markets
introduce opportunities for businesses to increase market share and profit with
a significant outcome. However, to be successful, these companies need
effective segmentation. Process of segmentation requires dividing a population
into mutually exhaustive sub-groups that are heterogeneous as per a specific
criterion.
From the perspective of marketing, identifying those segments
and apply targeted marketing tactics can assure profitably. Division of market
into different customer groups based on psychographic profile, demographic
characteristics, behavioral characteristics and geographical characteristics is
called segmentation and it is very crucial stage for the marketer to study
segmentation to effectively design strategies with optimal cost.
One of the most challenging and important tasks in marketing
is to understand necessity and interest of the client. In this competitive age,
customer is the king and to satisfy consumer needs is the fundamental task of
the marketer. Studying client profile, analyzing purchase pattern, identifying
product demand, and suggesting perfect match products is the prime way of
success. Thus, study of business analytics to get insights of consumer behavior
is an inseparable part of marketing.
Generally, the researchers conduct cluster analysis which
divides the consumer groups, in similar clusters. Clustering is based on
segmentation and for this study cluster analysis set of consumers are divided
based on their buying motives. Segmentation provides opportunities for marketer
to identify underlying dimensions of consumers. Segmentation help to
investigate consumers which can be grouped into distinct segments. It helps in
knowing the individual client needs, interests and preferences and provide
meaningful insight for making correct decisions about user profiles. It also
gives insights on buying pattern of consumers in the market.
Consumers have different motives while buying personal care
products. The changing lifestyle of Indian consumers make it imperative for
marketers to understand pattern of consumption. Different types of motives
influence users of personal care products to buy products. Motives affect
outcome such as preference and choice affected by the role of emotions
experienced while buying personal care products.
Motives often drive behavior that brings the consumer into
the market. Variety of functional motives such as marketing mix motive, functional
motive and consumer value motive can influence buyer’s buying pattern. Motives
can help to understand modern consumer behavior by examining its link. The
study considers the underlying motives for consumption choice from evolutionary
perspective.
These motives influence behavior, highlighting that many
consumer choices functions to help these needs. It helps to bridge the gap
between consumer wish and actual buying. Motives are structured in some way
around the realities of client’s buying experience, rather than being abstract
possibilities.
For different categories of products, consumers have
different purchase motivation. Predominant shopping motives include
convenience, hedonic and practical motives. Beauty products and cosmetics are
essential elements of consumer culture especially for women who are keen on
their appearance. Physical attractiveness and beauty are emphasized
continuously in as admirable and demanding characteristics in today’s
competitive market.
Store atmosphere, merchandising, assortment of different
products, point of purchase displays, convenience, different promotional
schemes are significant factors which influence consumer purchasing intentions
for beauty and skincare products.
2.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Ciobanu concluded from their study that the buying reasons
and arguments concerning the purchase of a targeted merchandise were related to
the co-ordination of activities by both the purchasing company and the company
that sold a product after the negotiation is finalized. Psychological, social
and demographic factors affect consumer decision process while buying any
product. An affluent consumer can take decision more quickly than the
middle-income group consumer. The secure consumer can take decision quickly as
compare to insecure consumer (Ciobanu, 2014).
Varsha Jain in her study developed a conceptual model that
could help marketers of luxury personal care products to develop better
strategies. Concern for distinctive looks, peer pressure, impact of different
types of media and high disposable income are few reasons for increasing brand
loyalty. Brand value and promise, attractive packaging, quality of the product
are few factors which determine the consumer behavior for purchasing personal
care products. Social media and country of origin does not have much impact on
consumer behavior while purchasing personal care products. These could be
valuable insights for marketers to explore new opportunities to cater needs of
consumers (Jain, 2014).
Kadam Vaishali explored in her studies that skincare market
is the fastest-growing segment in Cosmeceuticals. Many Cosmeceutical treatments
such as hyperpigmentation, wrinkles and photoaging include a combination of
pharmaceuticals and cosmetics (Vaishali, 2013).
Bassi discovered that market segmentation is a significant
technique in marketing to identify different segments. Statistical methods such
as cluster segmentation can give different segments some distinct advantages.
In clustering methods, Latent class model is prevalent, which is very flexible
and innovative and can divide market into different sub segments thereby
helping marketers to design and develop effective marketing strategies. Due to
constant changes in consumer needs and product choices, marketer has to often
search for different market segments. A mixture latent class Markov model can
provide dynamic segmentation model for financial product’s possession in
Italian households. This model can forecast consumer behavior in buying
financial products (Bassi, 2014).
Branko R. and Maričić concluded in their study that
strategic marketing planning is base for business success and growth. Market
segmentation is an essential tool to find preferences of customers as they are
heterogeneous in their preferences. Segmentation can be used as essential tool
to plan marketing activities in the long term. Empirical research based on
customer expectation and preferences can help in market segmentation. Along
with traditional segmentation bases, behavioral model is used to find the most
effective segmentation method. Result indicated that for performing strategic
market analysis, the most important criteria is market segmentation (Maričić, 2015).
Adriana Beatriz Madeira stated that advanced segmentation is
the process of identifying customers that are internally identical and
concerned to other diverse groups. Segmentation is very important task to make
more accurate decisions. The dynamic nature of modern-day consumers has changed
the dimensions, importance, customer experiences and has directly impacted the
process of segmentation. New concepts and changes in consumer characteristics
have changed methods of market segmentation. Study of market segmentation along
with other branches such as economics, sociology, psychology can assist in
designing new market segments (Madeira, 2015).
MarijaCerjak found that various factors such as pricing,
packaging, advertising and quality are very influential in deciding buying
behavior. Quality is the most critical determinant which influence consumers to
buy the products especially for PCP (Cerjak,
2010).
Matea Matić studied factors such as skin health
consciousness, self-image, age and ageing factors are the significant
determinants for purchasing skincare products among male consumers (Matić,
2016).
Sultan M M found majority of consumers preferring herbal
skincare products over traditional products which used chemicals. This is
beautiful opportunity for skincare manufacturers to grab this promising market.
Values perceived by buyers for herbal PCP and buying motives of millennial in
Bangladesh are influenced by 4P’s of Marketing, i.e. product, price, place and
promotion mix of herbal skincare products (Sultan, 2013).
Tan Chun Eng identified factors such as growing awareness,
metrosexual trend and concerns of self-image has created a lucrative market for
production of personal grooming, cosmetics and skincare products among male in
Malaysia. This has created a niche market for personal care product industry to
cater needs of this segment (Eng, 2018).
Otto Regalado Pezúa studied that consumption of PCP and
services for the male is increasing all over the world. Non-economic factor
such as environmental factors have limited intention to use these products.
Marketers need to design marketing program to create awareness for this among
buyers (Pezúa, 2016).
Dhrumil Thakkar discovered that demographic factors such as
age, gender, income, occupation as well as social, cultural, personal and
psychological factors have a huge impact on the purchase of the male grooming
factor especially for face wash (Thakkar, 2017).
Dr. Nuntasaree Sukato studied the phenomenon of male consumer
behavior for buying SC products, Fishbein and Ajzen’s developed reasoned action
model. In this theoretical framework author found, beliefs, normative
influence, aspirations and perception of self-image have a significant impact
on purchasing behavior for skincare products for male patrons in Bangkok. In
this theory new construct namely, self-image has been added to explain male
consumer behavior for skin care products (Sukato, 2009).
Abdullah Bin Junaid constructed a conceptual model consisting
of various factors associated with purchasing and consuming skincare product
has been developed by author, which will be helpful for beauty industries
(Junaid, 2013).
Kim (2011) developed theory of planned behavior to examine
the effect of past experiences for using organic products and consumer values
to study the purchase intention of consumers of personal care products.
Attitude for buying organic beauty products is positively related with
appearance and environmental consciousness. Retailers of beauty products can
implement an effective strategy to emphasize on organic products by
implementing effective strategies based on ecological beauty, product safety and
reasonable prices (Kim, 2011).
Anandarajan found that consumers are increasingly becoming
aware of the harmful effects of chemicals in PCP and are heading towards
ayurvedic products (Anandarajan, 2016).
One of the studies by Vibhuti investigated that consumer behavior for FMCG
products is mostly affected by 4 Ps marketing along with physiological and
psychological factors (Vibhuti, 2014). Samar Fatima suggested that advertisements
creates awareness in people but fails to build a strong perception in the
consumers mind (Fatima, 2015).
Bee Li Yeo explained Theory of Consumption Value (TCV) to
explore correlation among customer contentment and perceived value of customers
for halal products. The consumption value model consists of functional, social
epistemic, emotional and conditional value. According to study brand value can
be added as new value dimension to the original model. These dimensions can
give better insights for explaining consumers ‘choices and reactions (Yeo, 2016).
Victor Hugo found that men and women have different
perceptions while buying cosmetics and they are expressing their individuality.
Men are more concerned with oiliness whereas females are concerned with
oiliness and stickiness.Women buy more skincare products whereas sale of haircare
products are same for both genders (Infante,
2016).
KamyarKianpour explored consumer awareness and perception are
essential motivators to buy products.The important motivators to buy green
products are a concern for the environment, knowledge of consumer, perceived
benefits by the consumers, different laws and regulations and promotional
efforts taken by retailers to attract green consumers. These are essential
determinants to buy green products (Kianpour,
2014).
Ahaiwein his study suggested that brand preferences for
cosmetics are influenced by different extrinsic and intrinsic factors such as
gender, income, occupation, age, and social class status. Product
characteristics such as quality, brand name, packaging, price, shelf life and
fragrances are essential determinants of brand preferences for beauty products.
Also, brand preference for cosmetics is determined by factors such as age,
gender, income status, occupation and social class. Thus, demographic factors
have a significant impact on buying behavior of customers (Ahaiwe, 2015).
The research study by Caroline SueLinadvised beauty care
products companies should study demographic factors to create and retain
acceptance of cosmetic products. Conservative Consumer black- box model is
unsuccessful in providing an inclusive picture of consumer’s mind. Models
designed by Engel,Kollat and Blackwell model and Hawkins, Best and Coney model
prove that emotions play an important role in decision-making process for
buying different types of goods (SueLin, 2010).
Nadai suggested that relatively more spending on beauty
product during the recession period is the phenomenon known as Lipstick effect.
Psychological motives such as a feeling of happiness in personal life, feeling
confident in professional life and a romantic relation have been studied. It
has been found that only a romantic relationship is the only driver to buy
lipstick for women (Nadai, 2015).
Constantin compared K-means cluster and two-step cluster to
find the best method for segmenting the market. Post hoc market segmentation
method was used to find segments with specific attitudes or behavior. Findings
suggest that both methods have advantages and disadvantages. A researcher can
choose between both the methods which can give better analysis of data (Constantin, 2012).
Varsha Jain studied usage of luxury brands particularly in
PCP market is escalating in India. People are becoming aware for their external
appearances, concern for individual looks, peer pressure, impact of different
types of media and high disposable income are few reasons for increasing brand
loyalty. Brand value and promise, attractive packaging, quality of the product
are few factors which determine the consumer behavior for purchasing personal
care products.Social media and country of origin does not have much impact on
consumer behavior while purchasing personal care products.These could be
important insights for the marketers to explore new opportunities to cater
needs of the consumers (Varsha Jain, 2014).
Tan Chun concludes that growing awareness, increased
disposable income and concern of self-image has gained the marketers attention
to study this lucrative segment to earn profits. Marketers can serve this niche
market by exploring new products to cater needs of this segment. Cosmetic
companies,skin care companies can design new products to serve this niche
market. The conceptual model was proposed by Tan Chun which can predict
consumption behavior of the male consumers for purchasing skincare products.
This can be used by personal care products industries to formulate marketing
strategies to serve this niche lucrative market (Tan,
2018).
Literature analysis exposed shortcomings such as demographic
profile on large-scale survey sample for consumers of personal care items. Previous
experiments with limited sample size have been carried out such that findings
cannot be generalized. Most experiments were carried out to research the
purchasing behavior of personal care goods consumers. There is no segmentation
analysis focused on intentions for the purchasing of personal care products.
In view of literature, we believe that segmentation is an
essential activity for marketing managers to provide efficient consumer
experiences and to obtain competitive advantages in the industry. When the
competition is dominated by a vast variety of local, national and foreign goods
it is certainly a business challenge to split this massive market into similar
segments, so that current customers are maintained and new buyers are drawn. By
analyzing numerous motivations and desires of purchasers to use PCP,
researchers have established the hypothesis,
·
H1: Buying Motives & Product
characteristics changed the focus of segmentation of PCP Users.
3.
METHODOLOGY
The primary methodology used in this study is exploratory
study which was followed by conclusive research. Conventionally marketing
research utilizes quantitative approach to give insights for taking marketing
decision. (Malhotra, 2004). Quantitative descriptive research explains about
describing, recording the data, analyzing and interpretation related to the
study. Appropriates statistical tools
and techniques are applied to describe the data and answer for the research
related queries, meeting the objectives and goals of the research and interpret
results of the present study. The findings from the conclusive study can be
used as input to make managerial decision making.
3.1.
Sample Collection and Sample Size
Quota
sampling methodology was applied by selecting wards of Pune region. Quota
sampling is a non-probability sampling methodology which is a two-stage
judgmental sampling. Researcher selected these wards and famous cosmetics
stores were selected to collect data from respondents. Customers who were
purchasing many cosmetics and ready to cooperate were selected to gather data.
The selection of sample size was based on specified proportion constructed on
number of variables in questionnaire.
A
structured questionnaire was used as a research instrument to collect
information from the consumers. Non probability judgmental sampling method was
used to collect sample. A total of 850 questionnaires are distributed
personally to the users of personal care products in which 706 valid
respondents were obtained (response rate 83%). This study evaluates the role of
demographic variables and its effect of study variables for the present study.
Hence the general information of demographic profiles such as gender, age, marital
status, education qualification, occupation, monthly income was included for
data collection and are presented in below tables.
3.2.
Research Method
The
collected data was properly tabulated and evaluated. Statistical packages such
as SPSS V20 are used to carry out the statistical analysis. Cluster analysis is
used to Group the similar respondent who uses personal care products.
Non-Hierarchical K means Clustering Method was used as statistical method to
cluster the samples into different clusters.
3.3.
Cluster Analysis
Cluster
Analysis classifies respondents into a certain group of respondents based on
certain variables. It helps to segment customers in different groups. The aim
is that members of the particular group share similar characteristics with
members of the same group and share heterogeneous characteristics with members
of other groups.
The
idea of cluster analysis is to divide objects into distinct clusters,to achieve
maximum homogeneity of objects within the cluster, and to achieve maximum
heterogeneity between the clusters. The
study used cluster analysis to divide consumers based on functional motives
such as marketing mix motives, buying and consumer value motives for purchasing
personal care products.
Based
on review of literature, different functional motives were found. Marketing
mix motives such as price, the
convenience of buying products, attractive packaging, advertisement of personal
care products, promotional scheme and celebrity endorsement have a significant
impact while purchasing personal care products.
Buying
and consumer value motives such as products made of natural resources,
innovative products, the credibility of the products, suitability to use,
latest trends, previous experience of using personal care products, branded
products, quality products, environment friendly products, importance of
personal grooming have a significant impact while purchasing personal care
products.
Cluster
analysis is used to group observations using a measure of association which are
similar to homogenous subgroups, so the samples within the group are similar,
and samples are dissimilar in other groups. These subgroups reveal pattern
relates to a phenomenon under present study. Cluster analysis is also named as
classification analysis, and it belongs to the unsupervised learning technique.
The commonly used method to find similarity is Euclidean distance which is the
square root of sum of squared differences in value of all variables. Several
clustering methods are available, and one decides the procedure based the
research problem.
Clustering
procedure can be classified into Hierarchical, which is tree-like structure and
non-hierarchical clusters. Hierarchical methods can be divided into
agglomerative and divisive; Ward’s procedure is commonly used to find variance
method which is part of agglomerative method. Based on cluster membership and
dendogram using Ward method, number of clusters can be determined.
In
the present study three groups are identified based on dendogram and cluster
membership. The Non-hierarchical method is also called k-means clustering which
is classified into sequential & parallel threshold and optimizing
partitioning. (Malhotra & Dash, 2015). Using k-means clustering, the
significance of the clusters areverified, and it is helpful to interpret the
profile of the respondents who use personal care products in terms of
groups.
4.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In
Logistics subject, the participants of this study have worked on creating a
fictional company covering aspects like: name, product, mission, objectives,
target, market and so on. Students had also learned topics related to
Logistics: distribution channel, supply chain, retail, wholesale and how to
measure the company service satisfaction.
4.1.
Demographic Profile of Consumers using Personal Care products
As
per Focus Group analysis results, six products such as Face cream, moisturizer,
face wash, Shampoo, Conditioner and Hair Oil which were used by both males and
females. The rationale of this study was to understand the range of personal care
products used by males and females in the Indian personal care products market.
There
are behavioral differences while consumption of personal care products by male
and female. Criteria for selecting sample were to use at least four products
mentioned in personal care products range. The results in Table 1 shows 173
male & 533 females are using Personal care products thus emphasizing the
fact that females give more importance to looks as compare to males.
The
age group (22.2%) were 18-28 years age category, 191 (27.1%) were 28-38 years
age group, 188 (26.6%) from 38-48 years, 114 (16.1%) were 48-58 years age group
and 56 (7.9%) from above 58 categories respectively. From the samples 396
(56.1%) were married, 308 (43.6%) were unmarried and 2 (0.3%) are from any
other category. In terms of educational qualification, 13 (1.8%) completed SSC,
50 (7.1%) were from HSC category, 210(29.7%) from Graduation category,
363(51.4%) completed post-graduation and 70 (9.9%) were doctorate category.
The
occupation category consists of government job 118 (16.7%), 199(28.2%) were
from professional job category, 135(19.1%) were self-employed, 82(11.6%) were
house wife, student’s category were 110(15.6%), other service relates job
respondents were 34(4.8%) and 28(4.0%) were from any other category. In terms
of monthly income, 196(27.8%) earning 10000-30000 Rs, 207(29.3%) were earning
Rs 30,000 - Rs 50,000 Rs, 144(20.4%) were Rs
50,000 - Rs 70,000 category and 159(22.5%) earning more than Rs 70,000.
Table 1: Frequency analysis for
Demographic Variables
|
|
Variable |
Frequency |
|
Gender |
Male |
173
(24.5%) |
|
Female |
533(75.5%) |
|
|
Age |
18-28 |
157(22.2%) |
|
28-38 |
191(27.1%) |
|
|
38-48 |
188(26.6%) |
|
|
48-58 |
114(16.1%) |
|
|
58
and above |
56(7.9%) |
|
|
Marital
Status |
Married |
435(61.6%) |
|
Unmarried |
231(32.7%) |
|
|
Any
Other |
40(5.7%) |
|
|
Educational
Qualification |
SSC |
13(1.8%) |
|
HSC |
50(7.1%) |
|
|
Graduate |
210(29.7%) |
|
|
Post
Graduate |
363(51.4%) |
|
|
Doctorate |
70(9.9%) |
|
|
Occupation |
Government
Job |
118(16.7%) |
|
Professional
Job |
199(28.2%) |
|
|
Self
Employed |
135(19.1%) |
|
|
Housewife
|
82(11.6%) |
|
|
Student |
110(15.6%) |
|
|
Service
|
34(4.8%) |
|
|
Any
Other |
28(4.0%) |
|
|
Monthly
Income |
10000-30000 |
196(27.8%) |
|
30000-50000 |
207(29.3%) |
|
|
50000-70000 |
144(20.4%) |
|
|
70000
& above |
159(22.5%) |
|
|
Total |
|
706(100%) |
4.2.
DENDOGRAM
In the present study, Dendogram is used for clustering the
respondents who use personal care products. From the results of Dendogram, the
present study has classified three clusters. Figure 1 shows the Dendogram.
Figure 1: Dendogram
for 3 cluster solutions using Wards method
The
type of nature of dendogram allows the researcher to proceed forward to
backward at any level of individual clusters. This study has identified three
clusters so non-hierarchical clustering (k-means clustering) is used as shown
in Table 2 to obtain more stable clusters.
Table 2: Results of non-hierarchical clustering (k-means
clustering)
|
ANOVA |
||||||
|
|
Cluster |
Error |
F |
Sig. |
||
|
Mean Square |
df |
Mean Square |
df |
|||
|
Preference for Personal care
products which are made up of natural resources |
39.513 |
2 |
.445 |
703 |
88.887 |
.000 |
|
Preference Innovative
products |
79.437 |
2 |
.859 |
703 |
92.530 |
.000 |
|
Credibility is very imp
while using Personal care products |
43.986 |
2 |
.659 |
703 |
66.700 |
.000 |
|
Preference of Personal care
products which are suitable to use |
37.239 |
2 |
.396 |
703 |
93.965 |
.000 |
|
Price of Personal care
products is not important |
185.110 |
2 |
1.009 |
703 |
183.542 |
.000 |
|
Preference for Branded
Products |
54.886 |
2 |
.464 |
703 |
118.309 |
.000 |
|
Quality is very important |
41.980 |
2 |
.335 |
703 |
125.364 |
.000 |
|
Preference for reading
ingredients of Personal care products |
55.836 |
2 |
.722 |
703 |
77.349 |
.000 |
|
Convenience of buying
product not important |
200.122 |
2 |
.811 |
703 |
246.627 |
.000 |
|
Preference of Personal care
products which are not tested on animals |
130.856 |
2 |
.838 |
703 |
156.093 |
.000 |
|
Preference of latest trend
for Personal care products |
122.609 |
2 |
.966 |
703 |
126.942 |
.000 |
|
Preference for using
domestic products |
233.080 |
2 |
1.234 |
703 |
188.931 |
.000 |
|
Previous experience is very
important while using Personal care products |
40.377 |
2 |
.350 |
703 |
115.448 |
.000 |
|
Packaging of Personal care
products not very important |
350.718 |
2 |
.876 |
703 |
400.458 |
.000 |
|
Preference for environment
friendly products |
59.410 |
2 |
.438 |
703 |
135.589 |
.000 |
|
Advertisement of Personal
care products is not very important |
273.927 |
2 |
.917 |
703 |
298.745 |
.000 |
|
Personal Grooming is very
important to maintain image |
45.492 |
2 |
.582 |
703 |
78.138 |
.000 |
|
Preference for using
Personal care products based on previous usage |
53.166 |
2 |
.321 |
703 |
165.865 |
.000 |
|
Preference for Promotional
schemes |
72.525 |
2 |
.988 |
703 |
73.371 |
.000 |
|
No influenced by Celebrity
Endorsement |
227.615 |
2 |
1.058 |
703 |
215.098 |
.000 |
|
Not influenced by
Advertisements |
273.827 |
2 |
.993 |
703 |
275.651 |
.000 |
|
The F tests should be used only for descriptive purposes because the
clusters have been chosen to maximize the differences among cases in
different clusters. The observed significance levels are not corrected for
this and thus cannot be interpreted as tests of the hypothesis that the
cluster means are equal. |
||||||
The
resultsofnon-hierarchical clusteringshowsthat allthe variables aresignificant
at1% levelofsignificance asshowninTable2.Thepresentstudy relatedto personal
care products respondentoftotal706classifiesintothree clusters,inthe first
clustergroup,there are372 respondents,318 respondentsinsecond cluster andonly
16 respondentsinthethird cluster.
Table 3: Descriptive statistics for Profile of cluster I
|
|
N |
Mean |
Std. Deviation |
|
Preference for Personal care
products which are made up of natural resources |
372 |
4.09 |
.755 |
|
Preference Innovative
products |
372 |
3.41 |
.988 |
|
Credibility is very imp
while using Personal care products |
372 |
4.19 |
.866 |
|
Preference of Personal care
products which are suitable to use |
372 |
4.30 |
.629 |
|
Price of Personal care
products is not important |
372 |
2.86 |
1.148 |
|
Preference for Branded
Products |
372 |
4.22 |
.764 |
|
Quality is very important |
372 |
4.53 |
.584 |
|
Preference for reading
ingredients of Personal care products |
372 |
3.44 |
.965 |
|
Convenience of buying
product not important |
372 |
2.31 |
.841 |
|
Preference of Personal care
products which are not tested on animals |
372 |
2.93 |
1.027 |
|
Preference of latest trend
for Personal care products |
372 |
3.04 |
1.053 |
|
Preference for using
domestic products |
372 |
2.66 |
1.201 |
|
Previous experience is very
important while using Personal care products |
372 |
4.25 |
.634 |
|
Packaging of Personal care
products not very important |
372 |
2.36 |
1.001 |
|
Preference for environment
friendly products |
372 |
3.85 |
.763 |
|
Advertisement of Personal
care products is not very important |
372 |
2.67 |
1.158 |
|
Personal Grooming is very
important to maintain image |
372 |
4.06 |
.848 |
|
Preference for using
Personal care products based on previous usage |
372 |
4.26 |
.595 |
|
Preference for Promotional
schemes |
372 |
3.40 |
1.050 |
|
No influenced by Celebrity
Endorsement |
372 |
2.84 |
1.264 |
|
Not influenced by
Advertisements |
372 |
2.81 |
1.246 |
|
Valid N (listwise) |
372 |
|
|
|
Cluster Number of Case = 1 |
|||
Table 4: Descriptive statistics for Profile of cluster II
|
|
N |
Mean |
Std. Deviation |
|
Preference for Personal care
products which are made up of natural resources |
318 |
4.46 |
.518 |
|
Preference Innovative
products |
318 |
4.20 |
.838 |
|
Credibility is very imp
while using Personal care products |
318 |
4.28 |
.732 |
|
Preference of Personal care
products which are suitable to use |
318 |
4.31 |
.595 |
|
Price of Personal care
products is not important |
318 |
4.24 |
.817 |
|
Preference for Branded
Products |
318 |
4.37 |
.545 |
|
Quality is very important |
318 |
4.44 |
.503 |
|
Preference for reading
ingredients of Personal care products |
318 |
4.12 |
.656 |
|
Convenience of buying
product not important |
318 |
3.81 |
.965 |
|
Preference of Personal care
products which are not tested on animals |
318 |
4.06 |
.774 |
|
Preference of latest trend
for Personal care products |
318 |
4.15 |
.882 |
|
Preference for using
domestic products |
318 |
4.28 |
.990 |
|
Previous experience is very
important while using Personal care products |
318 |
4.36 |
.501 |
|
Packaging of Personal care
products not very important |
318 |
4.35 |
.844 |
|
Preference for environment
friendly products |
318 |
4.39 |
.496 |
|
Advertisement of Personal
care products is not very important |
318 |
4.42 |
.648 |
|
Personal Grooming is very
important to maintain image |
318 |
4.39 |
.640 |
|
Preference for using
Personal care products based on previous usage |
318 |
4.57 |
.503 |
|
Preference for Promotional
schemes |
318 |
4.14 |
.921 |
|
No influenced by Celebrity
Endorsement |
318 |
4.43 |
.659 |
|
Not influenced by
Advertisements |
318 |
4.52 |
.587 |
|
Valid N (listwise) |
318 |
|
|
|
Cluster Number of Case = 2 |
|||
Table 5: Descriptive statistics for Profile of cluster III
|
|
N |
Mean |
Std. Deviation |
|
Preference for Personal care
products which are made up of natural resources |
16 |
2.38 |
1.025 |
|
Preference Innovative
products |
16 |
1.94 |
1.124 |
|
Credibility is very imp
while using Personal care products |
16 |
1.87 |
1.025 |
|
Preference of Personal care
products which are suitable to use |
16 |
2.13 |
1.147 |
|
Price of Personal care
products is not important |
16 |
1.81 |
.750 |
|
Preference for Branded
Products |
16 |
1.69 |
1.014 |
|
Quality is very important |
16 |
2.19 |
1.377 |
|
Preference for reading
ingredients of Personal care products |
16 |
2.31 |
1.302 |
|
Convenience of buying
product not important |
16 |
1.94 |
.929 |
|
Preference of Personal care
products which are not tested on animals |
16 |
1.81 |
.750 |
|
Preference of latest trend
for Personal care products |
16 |
2.06 |
1.181 |
|
Preference for using
domestic products |
16 |
2.38 |
1.204 |
|
Previous experience is very
important while using Personal care products |
16 |
2.06 |
1.063 |
|
Packaging of Personal care
products not very important |
16 |
2.00 |
1.095 |
|
Preference for environment
friendly products |
16 |
2.00 |
.966 |
|
Advertisement of Personal
care products is not very important |
16 |
2.13 |
.957 |
|
Personal Grooming is very
important to maintain image |
16 |
2.06 |
.929 |
|
Preference for using
Personal care products based on previous usage |
16 |
2.00 |
.966 |
|
Preference for Promotional
schemes |
16 |
1.94 |
1.063 |
|
No influenced by Celebrity
Endorsement |
16 |
2.38 |
.957 |
|
Not influenced by
Advertisements |
16 |
1.94 |
.929 |
|
Valid N (listwise) |
16 |
|
|
|
Cluster Number of Case = 3 |
|||
Based on clusters data analysis, the results show that:
·
Cluster I resultas shown in Table 3 has relatively high
values for the variables such as quality is very important to them. The
participants used personal care products which were suitable to use, preferred
using Personal care products based on previous usage and previous experience
which made these attributes very important tothem while buying personal care
products. Hence, cluster I can be labelled as “Quality conscious” shoppers.
·
Cluster II results as shown in Table 4 has high values for
the variables such as using personal care products based on previous usage,
preferring products which are made up of natural resources, preferred quality
personal care products, preferred environment friendly products, products that
maintain images so personal grooming products, some preferredbranded products,
some preferred by analyzing previous experience while using personal care
products. Hence, this cluster II had many preferences and thereby can be
classified as “Branded and innovative shoppers with more preferences”.
·
Cluster III results as shown in Table 5 is just opposite to
cluster II with low values on variables such as price of personal care products
is not important for them. They preferredpersonal care products which are not
tested on animals, and convenience of buying product is not that important for
them. It was also seen that they did not get influenced by advertisements,
packaging of products either. Hence, advertisement of personal care products is
not very important for them. And looking at these preferences, final cluster
III can be named as “unconcerned shoppers”.
5.
CONCLUSION
Customers are very keen on using personal care products for
grooming themselves and protect their self-image. Usage of personal care
products has increased among all the age groups irrespective of age, gender,
educational qualification, occupation and marital status especially in urban
consumers. Motives play very vital role to influence consumers to buy different
types of personal care products.
Age, occupation, educational qualification, gender &
usage of personal care products are important determinants to buy personal care
products. One can conclude that females are using range of personal care
products as compared to male. Occupation and usage of PCP are also strongly
related. Person with professional jobs are more concerned for their external
appearances as compare to others. Age is very important factor in determining
usage of personal care products.
People in the age group of 18- 28 , 28-38, 38-48 tend to use
more no of personal care products as compare to age group of 48 and above
Educational qualification, occupation and usage of personal products range is
also very significant indicating people with better education gives more
important for grooming as compare to less educational qualification.
Income and usage of personal care products are strongly
related indicating person with more disposable income will buy and indulge in
different range of personal care products. Person with high income group are
purchasing different types of personal care products to groom themselves as
compare to people with low income group. People with high income group are
ready to spend more money on grooming.
Review of literature and focus group interviews revealed
different functional and value motives such as quality, brand name, price,
convenience of buying, distinguished image in society, natural ingredients,
chemical free products, herbal products are important determinants to buy
PCP.While analyzing the data it is found that consumers are more inclined
towards using personal care products for self-presentation, self- esteem and
distinguished image between professional fields.
Gender, age, educational qualification, occupation, income
have significant impact on buying motives for personal care products. Marital
status does not have any influence on buying motive of users of personal care
products.
Different segments give diverse view of market thus providing
important insight for expanding business by offering competitive advantage to
consumers. Segmentation helps in providing distinct segments without
overlooking subtle differences. The research studies marketing mix motives and
customer value motives such as quality products, brand name, previous
experience to use personal care products, sales promotional scheme, packaging,
celebrity endorsement, usage natural ingredients etc. which are important
motives to buy personal care products.
Hence, hierarchical clustering segmentation method was used
to divide the sample of 706 respondents into different clusters. K means
clustering have identified 3 clusters for these respondents. Based on this
three clusters such as “Quality conscious shoppers”, “branded and innovative
shoppers with more preferences” and “unconcerned shoppers” have been found.
Segmentation can help marketers to effectively subgroup the customers and target
customers more efficiently. Out of 706 respondents, 372 peoplewere found in
cluster I.
This cluster results provides very important insight to
marketing Manager for beauty care products that quality is the most important
determinant to buy these category products. Out of 706, 318 respondents were
found in this cluster II. From this cluster results it was found that consumers
personal grooming is very important because they were very keen to maintain
their image in society. Out of 706, only 16 respondents were
present in the last cluster III.The results of this cluster indicated consumers
gave least importance to advertisement or packaging of the product while buying
the products.
The study thus reflects different motives and the buying
intensions of consumers depending on the characteristics of the products. Thus,
the given hypothesis “Buying Motives & Product characteristics changed the
focus of segmentation of PCP Users” is
accepted and proved.
One can thus conclude that people are very conscious of their
self-image and external appearance and they give ample importance to buying
such personal care products. Very few out of the selected sample were
unconcerned shoppers. Thus, personal care products buyers are quality conscious
and prefer branded and innovative products.
5.1.
Applicability & Generalizability:
Cluster analysis is helpful to segment consumers based on
their profile and motives to buy personal care products. Segmentation is vital
strategy for the marketers to divide consumers based on their preferences.
Distinct clusters can help marketers to design strategies to serve consumers
effectively. This model can also be applied to other fashion associated
products and other consumer goods. Likewise, consumers can be classified based
on their motives to buy these products. This model can be applicable to other
disciplines such as HR, Finance, Operations etc. Distinct clusters obtained by
dividing consumers on different characteristics can help strategist to design
effective strategy in different sectors.
5.2.
Limitations:
Utmost care was taken
to collect genuine responses however respondent’s bias cannot be neglected.
Also, researcher has used non probability judgement sampling method to collect
responses. Results may not be applicable to outside world. This study has been
done for urban consumers who are using personal care products on daily basis.
Other criteria’s such as usage frequency, buying frequency, expenditure on
personal care products can give better insights.
5.3.
Scope for further Research:
This research can be used for other functional areas such as
HR, Finance where consumer behavior study can be done to segment consumers into
different clusters to serve them best, thus,maximizing good consumer experience
while consuming particular service. This study is useful for fashion industry,
make-up industry, male consumer grooming, fragrance market, cosmetic market to
design strategies and create profitable niche market for effective customer
serving and better customer relationship management.
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