Customer Interview : Behaviour & Emotion...

Understand the emotional associations with a brand help to identify brand attitudes as well as purchases intentions. Indeed, in humans, emotion fundamentally involves in expressive behavior. It refers to mood, individuality, motivation, etc.

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We are everyday influenced by both conscious and unconscious signals which interact with our emotion. It uses the five senses of the human being and appears with memories, habits, lifestyle, things we have done as a child. In the case of shampoo, three of these senses are particularly important and broadcast the emotion message to our brain: smell, view and touch.

Brands are obviously used as external signal to design, value, qualify. In other words, consumers associate the value of a product with the brand. Therefore, we can assume that consumers make buying decisions based in part on their feelings and emotions about particular brands.

Emy is a 26 years old teacher, living in the South of France. For about one year, she uses frequently Diamond Gloss Nivea shampoo and hair conditioner as well. According to the brand, the shampoo “transforms dry hair in a cashmere matter and irresistible glare”. She accepted to answer to our questions regarding brand emotions and feelings.

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What is your emotional behavior before the purchase?

Emy: if I could define my emotional attitude toward “my” shampoo (as she qualified Diamond Gloss Nivea shampoo) in one word I would say: Desire. I am totally addicted to its features, its benefits and mostly to its perfume. In fact when I first tried it, I immediately adopted it and became loyal. Sometimes, it appears that according to my mood and the season as well, I switched my shampoo to another one, staying loyal to the Nivea brand. Most of the Nivea products seem to agree with my hair: they are fresh, sexy and smart.

So, before the purchase, I feel pressed to buy it and do not hesitate in the shelves. However I like spending time looking different products and comparing “my” shampoo to many others. It confirms my choice and I like feeling that I trust a reliable brand, without any doubt: I like to be proud of it.

Describe your emotions and feelings during the utilization.

Emy: During the utilization of “my” shampoo, I would divide the emotions and feelings into three parts. The first one comes out when I perceive the bottle of shampoo. I know that I can be confident; the brand I use is satisfying for me. I don’t feel any doubt or fear. So, the first emotion I feel is positive and enthusiastic.

The second one is the smell. For me, it is the most important moment I spend. Olfactory function is the seat of emotions, mood and pleasure. The Lotus flower smell remembers me the one I felt when my Mum washed my hair when I was a child. I have associated this brand with an odor, associated itself with a memory. Today, when I think Nivea, I think to my Mum. I think it is a real challenge to the brand to provide odors into people can identify their own memories. Nivea won with me. The third emotion I feel is the touch of the product. At first in my hand, then in my hair. The sensation I experience is pure and stimulated. I feel healthy, fine and pride. I know these feelings because they always return; I am never surprised or worried about it. This is obviously the strength of the brand: it always brings me emotion which has never disappointed me.

What is your emotional answer after the utilization?

Emy: after the utilization I feel pleased and relaxed. I generally add the shampoo with a conditioner (same brand, same benefits, and same emotion). As I totally trust the brand, I know exactly how my hair will react. Therefore I stocked to it one year ago and would not change anymore!

As an analysis of this interview, we can say that emotions are a key part of human experiences associated with memory. By understanding the emotional associations with brands, product managers will get an important aspect for developing their strategy.

We can also highlight the fact that the smell is an essential sense for shampoos. We will dedicate an article related to the emotion the brand broadcasts towards the perfume of a shampoo.

Organization in the shelves...

In studying how brands differentiate themselves in a shelf, we have already seen that colors are a criterion. Now we will see that the organization in a shelf is another one that we have to take into consideration.  Therefore we have taken some pictures in a hypermarket, Géant in Mandelieu, to illustrate how brands are present. (These pictures have been taken at the end of the day consequently the shelves are sometimes not very well supplied). Besides we have to take into consideration that shampoos are proposed next to different kind of conditioners. We will do a focus on our brands and some other relevant examples.

We can begin with Fructis:

 

Fructis is present in the middle of the shelf. The products are displayed on four levels (in the bottom) and there are 17 or 18 products facing. We can see that shampoos are proposed with their conditioners or balms; each one has between 2 and 6 facing products. The shampoos are the most present.

Nivea is present just close to Fructis on its right. The brand is also present on four levels (also in the bottom) with between 14 and 21 facing products. For this brand, additional products are also proposed next to their shampoo. We can see that there are between 2 to 8 facing products.

Elsève is next to Nivea in the shelf. It is also present on four levels (and also in the bottom). But it has much more facing products, from 34 to 38 (or almost twice more than the two other brands). We can notice that lots of conditioners or balms are also proposed. In this case there are between 2 and 6 facing products for each category. Therefore even though Elseve has chosen to have different colors according to the specificities of the shampoo we can see that it creates a real bloc in the shelf by the abundance of its product in facing.

Head & Shoulders for its part, is present at the end of the shelf, in the bottom, and therefore at the beginning of the second entrance (noticing that this one comes from the fish shelf). As the other brands, its products are displayed on four levels. There are between 16 and 22 facing products for this brand. We can underline that even with its white bottles; H&S offers a clear shelf thanks to its colors on bottle to differentiate products.

Now we can see another relevant example with the brand: Le Petit Marseillais.

This one is present at the beginning of the shelf. Its products are on four level too and the four ones are underlined by a band with the logo of the brand. This allows the brand to have more visibility in the shelf compared to other brands, moreover that it is the only one to have this particularity.

  

Finally we can see the case of a private label: Casino. This retailer has several ranges of shampoos. We have to notice that it is organized totally differently than national brands.

On this picture, we can see Casino products, only on one line, in the middle of the shelf and above all at the eye catching level. This range has 60 facing products! or the most important one. We have also to notice that this private label is above the other important brands. Besides its colors, pink, differentiates itself even more in the middle of others.

On this second picture, another range has 28 facing products, also on a single line and at the eye catching level too.

 

On the third one, we can see once more, Casino products on the eye catching level, on the other side of the shelf. This time with only, 9 facing products.

We can say that brands are present in many lines, with between 14 and 38 facing products. Therefore they are well visible but the ones next to the others, they lose this visibility. On the contrary private label has much less line but much more facing products, on a better level.

We have seen that the presence in the shelf is different according to brands, and the main one is certainly Elseve thanks to its numerous colors and facing products.

 

Colors in the shelves...

We would like to make a focus on the presence of shampoos in retailers. As you already know, shampoos are in the cosmetic shelves of a shop.

You can see on this picture, taken in a hypermarket, the shampoos shelves.

Geant Casino Mandelieu

You can notice first that it is really big, even if we have to remind that it is a hypermarket.

As all brands use almost the same packaging: one bottle of 250ml, they have to find other ways to differentiate themselves, in order to make people chose their product in particular whereas it is just close to a very similar other one, by catching consumers’ attention.

We know that 85% of clients, in the shelf, take only one product in their hands and this is the one they buy. Therefore the best solution for brands it that consumers take their buying decision before their shopping time. That is to say that the project manager has to use all the tools at his disposal to make people chose his product as soon as possible. Then, when clients will come in the shop they will have just to find it and buy it. If it is not the case, your brand will be in competition with all the others and you are not controlling anything because consumers’ decision can depends on the state of the shelf or the general atmosphere of the retailers.

Knowing that, brands use the visibility in this shelf that can be improved through mainly two criteria: the color of the bottle and the place in the shelves

Therefore, we will speak about color of the bottles. We can see on this picture that brands really use this criterion to differentiate themselves.

www.fructis.fr

The one which has the most power is certainly Fructis. This brand has chosen to have all its products in green. We have to underline the fact that it’s really a strategic choice because obviously it’s not one of the first colors that we would associate to shampoo. As it is a typical women product and first a cosmetic one, we would have seen more pink or purple or at least a soft color but not green, which is more related to environment, earth or nature. This choice makes the brand really identifiable easily in the shelf. Besides, they add a colorful circle, representing a specific product; for instance: purple for “hydra-boucles”, dark blue for “long and strong”, orange for “hydra-liss”…

www.nivea.fr

For its part, Nivea has chosen a unique color too, the clear blue. This color isn’t a habitual color for shampoo too, but is at least softer. And it allows the brand to differentiate itself also in the shelves. Indeed all its products being in the same color, creates a blue bloc representing Nivea. In the same way as Fructis, Nivea has chosen to use a dedicated color for the text on the bottle and the top of the stopper; for instance: pink for “nutri cashmere”, or blue for “volume sensation”… This strategy makes the brand more visible for consumers.

www.loreal.fr

Elsève has made a totally different choice. Indeed the brand has not chosen a single color to unify its products. On the contrary, Elsève has attributed a color of bottle according to the specificities of the product. We can give some examples: purple for “Volume Collagene”, yellow for “Nutrition et Lumière” and also white for the bottle associated to green/red/yellow. 

www.loreal.fr

This different choice seems to function too, as Elsève is one of the most present and sold brand. We can suppose that the mix of colors catch consumer’s attention or that consumers know these colors thanks to communication tools dedicated to one model.

 

www.headandshoulders.com

Head&Shoulders has made a choice similar to the two first brands. Its bottles of shampoo are all white and different colors are used on it to differentiate the specificities. For instance, we have pink for “hydratant lisse et soyeux”, blue for “classic or purple for “extra volume”. This strategy allows consumers to identify this brand too but we have to notice that white is a common color not very eye catching and it is not the only brand to have made this choice.

We can notice that all these colors for all these brands allow customers in a so big choice. Thus people have whether to take their chosen product (if they have already done it) or to choose the first coming or to start reading the information on the bottle and look for an adapted product.

This color strategy allows also brands to increase loyalty. Once you have found your shampoo, you’ll keep it because it answers your needs and fits your hairs and also because it will be a gain of time and therefore easily your shopping. Once you have chosen it, when you have to buy a new bottle, you come in the shelf and you can find it easily. That is why brands make so many efforts to differentiate themselves.

 

Consumers - Let's talk about you !

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Let’s talk about Your Behavior – Habits – Lifestyle – Practices – Trends – Tendency.

What kind of shampoo corresponds to you ?

How do you choose it ?

So many questions we can ask to better understand the market.

Customer’s profile and segmentation

Nowadays, we can admit that everybody uses shampoo. However there are some exceptions:

ß   Hairless people

ß   People who use shower gel to wash their hair (10% of the population according to a TNS-World panel study)

ß   People who don’t wash their hair (yes it still exists !)

Shampoo’s customers are separated into various segments according to:

ß    Gender

ß    Socio-economic status

ß    Demographic status

ß    Lifestyles (parents with young children, travelers, students, etc.)

ß    Education years  and purpose of the studies

ß    Purchases motivations (beauty, health, simple cleaning)

ß    Usage style, frequency

ß    Behavior face to health and beauty

Moreover consumers are affected by:

ß    Advertising

ß    Packaging (travel size, child proof, decorator bottle)

ß    Channels of distribution (specialty stores, supermarket, pharmacies)

ß    Discounts, samples, promotions

These criteria will influence different needs and expectations. The purchase of a shampoo can be totally different according to the customer profile. For instance Nevertheless,  some consumers take no importance of the shampoo they use. It is significant to highlight this point because they will not react by the same way than people who like taking care of their hair.

Customer need’s & benefits

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Contrary to popular belief, shampoo cannot permanently alter the natural style of your hair. It can at best temporarily improve its appearance.

You are really attentive to the product you use. Of course, washing and cleaning your hair is an important benefit. However companies have developed so many improvement for your hair: deep-cleansing, conditioning, anti-dandruff, color treated, frizzy, shiny, curly hair, wellness (indeed, the word “shampoo” comes from the Hindu word “champo” meaning “head massage”), dry shampoo, shampoo + hair conditioner, etc.

 

Is there too many choice of shampoo ?

As we can apparently noticed, there is many choice of shampoo in the shelves. Customers feel a little bit lost face to everyday’s innovations and news. That is why to fully satisfy you, a shampoo company must not promise you expectations too high than you thought. The main issue is to not disappoint you. However, when you are in a shelve we can notice that shampoo companies make every effort to attract the customer and the purchase.

We will talk later on about the emotion and how they can differentiate the brand in order to build brand equity.

SHAMPOO STORIES

Linda, 22 years old, student

“I am looking for innovation. The improvement that will make my hair different to others. I have long hair difficult to style, I used to spend many time in the bathroom to make them so remarkable… Therefore, once I perceive a new product in a shelve, I do not hesitate and try it immediately !”

Sandra, 29 years old, employee

“Take care of my hair has become a real pleasure for me. I make this moment special and authentic. I always choose a shampoo enjoyable : its smell, its texture, its properties have to make me feel better.”

Bastian, 27 years old, guitarist

“I really think that shampoo companies made an effort to improve men shampoos : more choices, more specificities, more brands… Personally, my shampoo answer to two crucial things : first get my hair clean, second get a great volume for my fine hair. Moreover I can use it every day without damaging them.”

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It is your turn to tell us your shampoo story.

Like them, feel free to explain your own experience!

Competitors on the shampoo market

As you know, today our shampoo shelf is full of different brands.

Therefore we would like to make you understand better the competition on this market. We will present you briefly the main competitors and the organization of these companies.

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Today consumers are really attentive to strategic position (specialized product, professional range…) and innovation. That is why; companies are proposing more and more products through different brands. Indeed people are no longer looking for a simple shampoo, washing their hairs. They are looking for specific products custom tailored, with a professional caution, a natural aspect, a tendency to harmlessness, or adapted to the question of cultural harmlessness…

Consequently lots of brands are present in our shelves, proposing us a very large number of offers.

We will discover the different companies present in retailers through one or many brands.

At the beginning of the 20th century, two hairdressers have found their own company specialized in hairs products. In 1995, the two societies Eugene and Perma have merged. 

This French society searches to promote worldwide the beauty with French inspiration, established into more than 40 countries.

Today Eugene Perma owns two shampoo brands: Pétrole Hahn and Kéranove.  

Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer, which has been founded in 1886. The company has 250 subsidiary companies with operations in more than 57 countries around the world, employing 114,000 people and generating 61.9 billion$ sales in 2009. Among its numerous brands, J&J owns Le Petit Marseillais, present on the shampoo market.

The beginning of L’Oréal history starts in 1907, when Eugène Schueller found a hair dye formula called Auréale. Today the company is organized into 4 operational divisions: professional products, mass-market products, luxury products and active cosmetics. Besides this big company owns participations in different activities such as chemistry, health, finance, design, advertisement or insurances. However it is concentrating on hair colour, skin, sun protection, make-up, perfumes or hair care. L’Oréal describes itself as a company always looking for excellence “though products still more performing, creative and sure” to “answer to women and men aspirations worldwide”. In 2010, the turnover reached 19.5 billion €uros, through 130 countries and thanks to 66,600 employees. Today this company owns several brands on our market: Elsève, Fructis and Ultra Doux (from Garnier), Jacques Dessange, Jean Louis David, Franck Provost, Mixa, Dop, Ushuaïa (from Lascad).

Beiersdorf is an international group involved in the cosmetics, dermo-cosmetics and first care. It is present in the world through 150 subsidiaries, with 19,200 employees and a turnover of 6.2 billion €uros in 2010. It capitalizes on its 125 years of innovation to offer to its consumers innovate and high quality products.  Its history has been marked in 1911, by the creation of the well known cream Nivea. This brand is also proposing shampoos.  

Procter & Gamble (P&G) has been founded in 1937; born from the association of William Procter (candle manufacturer) and James Gamble (soap maker). This American company has never stopped evolving and diversifying to become international. It is present in more than 180 countries, with 127,000 employees, with around 300 brands used by more than 4 billion consumers, reaching 78.9 billion$ in 2010. Besides it’s evolving on several segments: beauty, grooming, health care, snacks and pet care, fabric care and home care, baby care and family home care.  It has 3 brands on the shampoo market: Pantene Pro-V, Head & Shoulders and Wella.

Henkel has been founded in 1876. It operates worldwide in 3 business areas: home care, personal care and adhesives, sealants and surface treatment. It’s present in 125 countries through five continents. The company employs 48,000 people in the world. It realized a turnover of 15,092 billion of €uros in 2010. It owns one brand on our market: Schwarzkopf.  

Unliver is a British-Dutch multinational company, it owns lots of consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Every day, 2 billion people use Unliver products; this gives the opportunity to improve their daily life. Besides 170 billion products are bought every year in the world. The company counts 167,000 employees in the world. It has generated 44.3 billion € of turnover for the year 2010. It owns two shampoo brands: Dove and Timotei.  

Besides for this blog, we have decided to study in details four main brands of shampoo: Elseve – Fructis – Nivea – Head&Shoulders.  

The Overall Shampoo Market !

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According to a study of Datamonitor in 2009, the shampoo market represents approximately $3 billion in France. Let’s notice that although the market benefited from a 1,1% compounded rate over the 2005-2009 period, the analysis company forecasts the growth to be negative over the 2009-2014 period, reaching a – 0,8% rate and $2,9 billion. So, we can qualify this market as a mature one.

Let’s take a closer look at the various actors on the shampoo market. We can notice that the major actor is L’Oréal S.A with the possession of half market shares: 54,5%.  The Procter & Gamble Company follows L’Oréal in market shares terms, owing 10,3% of the market. Henkel KGaA occupies the third position with 8,5% of the market. Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Eugeneperma, Beiersdorf, private labels and smaller companies share the 26,8% remaining market shares.

Market shares in 2009:

France shampoo market share: % share, by value, 2009
Company	% Share
L’Oréal S.A.	54,5%
Procter & Gamble	10,3%
Henkel KGaA	8,5%
Others	26,8%
Total	100%

 

Concerning outlets, shampoos are sold in several touch points. First of all, they are sold in supermarkets and hypermarkets (Carrefour, Casino, Géant, Intermarché…). We will study in an article later how companies organize their brands in shelves. For the majority of consumers (51,6%), they buy their shampoo in supermarkets but others prefer buying theirs at specialist retailers’ (34%) like at hairdressers’ for instance or in pharmacies or drugstores for 8,3% of them.

Market distribution in 2009:

France shampoo market distribution: % share, by value, 2009
Channel	% Share
Supermarkets/Hypermarkets	51,6%
Specialist Retailers	34,0%
Pharmacies/Drugstores	8,3%
Others	6,2%
Total	100%