Consumer Behavior for Unilever Personal Care Division

This report aims to identify various factors that guide consumer behavior in the process of buying a product with the help of two critical research methods; Observation and Questionnaire. The report includes the background of the outlet, consumer demographic profile, findings from the research, and recommendations for in-store promotions. The subject is Consumer Behavior and the course code is not mentioned. The course name and college/university are also not mentioned.

Consumer Behavior
Unilever Personal Care Division

Table of Contents
Introduction: Rationale of the assignment.......................................................................................2
Background of the outlet.................................................................................................................2
Consumer demographic profile.......................................................................................................2
Findings from the research..............................................................................................................3
Observation..................................................................................................................................3
Questionnaire...............................................................................................................................4
Recommendations for in-store promotions.....................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................8
Appendices......................................................................................................................................8
Questionnaire...................................................................................................................................8

Introduction: Rationale of the assignment
Unilever is a leading brand in the personal and home care product category. There are various
brands under the umbrella of Unilever. These including leading personal care product brands
including Sunsilk and Dove. Sunsilk offers an extensive range of hair care products. This
includes anti dandruff, smooth and straight, scalp care, hair fall solution and dry and smooth.
There are various factors that guide the consumer behavior in the process of buying a product
(Solomon et. al., 2014). This report aims to identify various such factors with the help of two
critical research methods; Observation and Questionnaire.
Background of the outlet
For observation, we selected Watsons in the Sunway pyramid mall located in Bandar Sunway of
Selangor, Malaysia. The mall was opened in 1997. It is a large supermarket which stores a large
number of products ranging from personal care, groceries, food items and stationary products.
The average daily footfall at the supermarket is over 1200 people on weekdays and between
2500 and 2800 people on weekends. The store is located at a centralized location and has a large
number of people visit the market during evening. This is why we decided to conduct this
research after 6pm.
Consumer demographic profile
We observed the super market for over 6 hours. In the process, we did not interact with any of
the customers but simply observed their buying patterns. Over 70% of customers entering the
personal care section were women. The customers were aged between 15 and 45. Hence, the
brand is targeting a wide range of customers. Most of the customers appeared to be white collar
employees and working professionals.
A lot of the customers were shopping with families. They were locals of the area and it was clear
that they visit that particular supermarket frequently. They all belonged to different religions and
a few looked like they have a different ethnic origin.
For the questionnaire, we targeted individuals who were aged between 15 and 38. 75% of our
target audience included women. As per the income distribution, 15% of the respondents

belonged to the lower income group, 60% to the middle income group and 25% to high income
groups.
Findings from the research
Observation
The very first thing that we observed at the super market was that over 40% of the women knew
exactly what they wanted. They entered the personal care aisle at the market, picked up the
shampoo and conditioner they needed and left. The remaining 60% of the people who did not
know exactly which product they wanted took a long time.
Price was a major deciding factor for customers to choose between leading hair care brands.
Those customers who were not sure of what they wanted to buy, turned different bottles and
checked the price of the product as the first determining factor. Many customers compared the
prices of a few brands before shortlisting the product that they need. A couple of customers
compared the price of the product at the store with online platforms as well. Upon noticing the
discounts offered by Ecommerce platforms, they decided to order to product instead. Therefore it
is important that marketers price their products in an effective manner to positively guide
consumer behavior (Armstrong et. al., 2015)
A few customers were seen talking amongst themselves or reading online reviews before
finalizing the product. When we had entered the store, there was immense in-store promotion
about the new sunsilk bottle where Unilever was offering a free 80ml bottle of conditioner with
the 340ml bottle of the shampoo. Many customers were excited about this offer and a lot of them
even calculated the amount of money they were saving via this combo. At least 30% people who
needed a shampoo, took this opportunity and bought the combo.
Over 75% of customers did not know the exact product but they were aware of the kind of
product they wanted. This included anti-dandruff, think and long hair or products for damaged
hair. A lot of young women also considered the product packaging as an important factor to
judge the quality of the product they were buying. Most such women preferred to buy L’Oreal
products as the shampoo bottles had bright colors.

Most of the people who visited the store bought shampoos and conditioners together. Also we
noticed that people preferred to buy shampoo and conditioner from the same brand. There were
limited people buying hair serums, hair masks and hair creams. A lot of people opened the
bottles and smelled the product. There were a few herbal shampoos which were probably
rejected by customers because of their smell.
For some people, it was very difficult to decide between various options available. Hence they
took a much longer time to select their product. However, on an average this purchasing decision
was made in under three to four minutes. Those who took longer were not entirely sure about
what they wanted and hence conducted online research before finalizing their choice. Also,
women took much longer to decide the product as compared to men.
There were a large number of people who visited the store. However, only a couple of them
bought just shampoo and conditioner. Most of the people had come there for their weekly or
monthly grocery shopping and bought shampoo as well. The overall observation process helped
us understand the impact of in store promotions and small factors that impact consumer purchase
decisions while buying hair care products. Therefore, in order to understand the same in a better
manner, we decided to create a questionnaire.
Questionnaire
We prepared a questionnaire which addressed 12 important questions. These questions were
aimed at understanding consumer buying behaviors while purchasing a shampoo. We tried to
understand and identify various factors that play an important role while purchasing hair care
products. The questionnaire was filled by 27 people between the ages of 22 and 47. Over 75% of
the people who filled the questionnaire were women. 80% of these were working women and for
100% of them hair care played a critical role in their personal hygiene routine.
It is important to note that most of the customers had two important requirements for their hair
care. These requirements included a shampoo and a conditioner. 45% of women used hair
serums. 20% of women used hair creams and a mere 18% of them used hair masks. This
predominantly because shampoos and conditioners have been in use since times immemorial but

hair serums, hair masks and creams are relatively new and have been introduced in the recent
years.
Over 60% of the women bought 350ml bottle of shampoo and conditioner. 75% of the people
bought a shampoo every two months. Women tend to research a lot about the personal care
products that they buy. Therfore after all the research done, once they shortlist and finalize a
product, they tend to remain loyal to that product. Therefore, it can be concluded that brand
loyalty plays a significant role in personal care and hari care products used by women. 45% of
women considered Sunsilk and 25% of the women considered Dove to be their first choice of
shampoo and conditioner brands. This was followed by L’oreal (18%), Garnier (14%) and other
brands. Brand loyalty plays such an important role in personal hygiene that 68% women refused
to buy a new product on promotion. They rather stuck to their own brands even if the brand
offered no additional discounts. Therefore the aim of brands must be to create loyalty and
valuing existing customers (Nam et. al., 2011) Moreover, 100% of the respondents accepted that
they have used a new product and regretted it which is why they prefer sticking to their own
brands.
The most important factors while deciding upon a shampoo were price, purpose and packaging.
40% of the people switched to online platforms owing to lesser price offered by these platforms.
30% of people even bought bigger sized bottles of shampoos and conditioners because they are
overall less expensive. In fact, while switching to a new shampoo or conditioner brand, 45% of
the people stated that the price of the product is the most important factor determining their final
selection.
95% of the respondents bought all their hair care products from the same brand. For example if
they are using a sunsilk shampoo then they would prefer using a sunsilk conditioner and a hair
cream. This is because they trust the brand. 65% of the respondents were confident about trying
out new products introduced by their favorite brand.
60% of the people stated that packaging of the product is very important for them. They
preferred hair products to have an attractive packaging. This packaging included creative bottle
style and bright colors. In fact packaging of the product plays the most important role when
people were looking for new products besides their loyal brands.

Customer reviews also guide customer buying behavior (Lee & Bradlow, 2011). Customer
reviews and feedbacks of friends are also very important for people to select a particular hair
care products. Over 80% of the respondents read reviews of products on online platforms and
seek guidance from their families and friends before buying a new product. This reflects that
respondents are not willing to take risks regarding nay new hair care product that they buy. It is a
big decision for them and hence they tend to be sure and conduct research before shortlisting
their product.
Celebrity endorsements and television ads also impact consumer choices regarding their hair care
products (Weiss, 2014). 50% of the customers felt that if one of their favorite celebrity is
advertising a shampoo then they are more likely to buy that product. This suggests that
organizations must invest in effective marketing strategies and indulge in influencer marketing to
attract more customers.
Recommendations for in-store promotions
After thoroughly analyzing the observations made above, the following recommendations have
been made to effectively promote hair care products inside the store:
1. Combo offers must be made like giving a free conditioner with a shampoo bottle. These
combinations are practical and hence immediately gain customer attention.
2. Products that need to be promoted must be kept at eye level from customers (Varley,
2014). They should neither be placed to higher racks nor too lower racks.
3. Store agents must be interactive and they must possess the right marketing skills to push
the product to customers in a subtle manner
4. Posters and advertisements of the products must be placed on store walls.
5. Free samples of new products must be distributed to engage first time customers (Buil et.
al., 2013). This would be in the form of small sunsilk sachets.
Recommendations for store
1. Products which are being bough less like hair serums, creams and masks must be pushed
to customers through effective marketing and discounted prices

2. Product combos must be sold. Shampoos and conditioners. Shampoos and serums. Hair
creams and hair masks.
3. An additional rack of sunsilk and dove products must be placed next to the billing
counter in order to attract customers even at the last minute before checking out.
4. Promotional products must be kept at eye length from customers. A large number of
products must be made available at the store and bigger bottles must be placed at places
where they can be easily seen.
5. Watson’s in Sunway Pyramid mall must store details of all their customers and hence a
notification of such promotions must be sent to customer’s mobile or Emails.
6. A hair consultant or a hair expert must be available at the stores on certain days for a few
hours. The consultant would be able to guide customers regarding the hair care product/s
that would be most suited for them.

References
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015. Marketing: an introduction.
Pearson Education.
Buil, I., De Chernatony, L. and Martínez, E., 2013. Examining the role of advertising and sales
promotions in brand equity creation. Journal of Business Research, 66(1), pp.115-122.
Lee, T.Y. and Bradlow, E.T., 2011. Automated marketing research using online customer
reviews. Journal of Marketing Research, 48(5), pp.881-894.
Nam, J., Ekinci, Y. and Whyatt, G., 2011. Brand equity, brand loyalty and consumer
satisfaction. Annals of Tourism Research, 38(3), pp.1009-1030.
Solomon, M.R., Dahl, D.W., White, K., Zaichkowsky, J.L. and Polegato, R., 2014. Consumer
behavior: Buying, having, and being (Vol. 10). Pearson.
Varley, R., 2014. Retail product management: buying and merchandising. Routledge. United
Kingdom.
Weiss, R., 2014. Influencer marketing. How word-of-mouth marketing can strengthen your
organization's brand. Marketing health services, 34(1), pp.16-17.

Appendices
Questionnaire
1. Identify the hair care products that you use on a regular basis:
a. Shampoo
b. Conditioner
c. Hair Serum
d. Hair Mask
e. Hair Cream
2. What is your favorite hair care brand:
a. Sunsilk
b. Dove
c. L’Oreal
d. Garnier
3. How frequently do you shop for hair care products
a. Weekly
b. Monthly
c. Once in two months
d. Once in four months
4. What shampoo bottle size do you prefer to buy
a. 80ml
b. 160 ml
c. 340 ml
d. Sachets
5. How often do you change your brand
a. Every month
b. Never
c. Every few years
6. Have you ever used a new hair care product and regretted it?
a. Yes

b. No
7. What are the factors impacting your purchase decision while buying hair care products?
a. Price
b. Packaging
c. Brand name
d. Purpose of product (Anti-dandruff, hair colors, hair length)
8. Do you use the same brand for all hair care products?
a. Yes
b. No
9. Would you try a new product introduced by your favorite brand
a. Yes
b. No
10. Do you read customer reviews before buying hair care products
a. Yes
b. No
11. Do you consult friends before buying hair care products
a. Yes
b. No
12. Would you try a new product simply because a celebrity is endorsing it
a. Yes
b. No
c. Depends on which celebrity