Consumer Behavior Factors in Fragrance Sector: The TFS Case Study

This case study investigates the factors influencing consumer behavior in the fragrance sector, with a specific focus on The Fragrance Shop (TFS) in the UK. The research employs a quantitative approach, utilizing survey data collected from 336 consumers. The findings reveal that while price significantly impacts purchasing decisions, other factors such as scent, personal preferences, influence from friends and family, and customer service also play crucial roles. Correlation and regression analyses are used to determine the strength and direction of these relationships. The study explores demographic factors like nationality, age, gender, and occupation, as well as subjective factors related to fragrance preferences and brand perceptions. Ultimately, the research aims to provide recommendations to The Fragrance Shop for enhancing their marketing strategies and improving their market share by better understanding and catering to consumer behavior.

Running head: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Factors That influencing Purchasing Behavior of Consumers in Fragrance Sectors: A Case
Study of The Fragrance Shop (TFS)
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Acknowledgement
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who have been a great help in
completing the dissertation. These people had led me and helped me to know my hidden
potential and strength and utilize it in the best possible way in the undertaken research. I would
like to express my deep gratitude towards supervisor for his constant monitoring and
commendable and exemplary guidance, which has led me to complete the dissertation in the due
course of time. The guidance and unconditional support provided by him not only helped me a
lot during the thesis completion but also will remain with me for a longer time period on the
journey of my life. I would like to express my deep gratitude to all the participants who lend
their valuable input to develop an understanding about different aspects of consumer behaviour
regarding purchasing of fragrances from The Fragrance Shop, UK. Furthermore, I would like
thank my friends and family, who provided me with constant support to finish my thesis within
the timeline.

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Abstract
Consumer behavior is a very important factor for the marketers and the manufacturing
companies. It is one of the determinant factors of the profitability of the companies. In the
fragrance industry, the business is highly sensitive as it depends on the customer’s tastes and
preferences, prices, brands and scents of the perfumes. Through this research paper, the
researcher has explored the topic of the research, that is, impact of price on the consumer
behavior in the matter of fragrance purchase. He has conducted a case study on the consumers of
The Fragrance Shop, UK. Primary data was collected through a survey on 336 consumers and
the data was analyzed using quantitative methods. Through the correlation and regression
analysis, it has been found that price has a significant impact on the consumer behavior and
along with that, there are many other factors, such as, scent or aroma, tastes and preferences,
influence from the family and friends, and customer service by the shop that have a major impact
on the consumer behavior.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction..................................................................................................................10
1.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................10
1.2 Background of the Study.....................................................................................................11
1.3 Research Rationale..............................................................................................................12
1.4 Aim of the Research............................................................................................................13
1.5 Objectives of the Research..................................................................................................13
1.6 Research questions...............................................................................................................13
1.7 Research Hypothesis............................................................................................................13
Chapter 2: Literature Review.........................................................................................................14
2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................14
2.2 Concept of consumer behavior............................................................................................14
2.3 Impact of consumer behavior on society and on the economy............................................19
2.4 Theories of consumer behavior...........................................................................................19
2.5 Conceptual framework.........................................................................................................21
Chapter 3: Research methodology.................................................................................................22
3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................22
3.2 Research method outline......................................................................................................22
3.3 Research philosophy............................................................................................................22
3.4 Research approach...............................................................................................................23

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3.5 Research strategy.................................................................................................................24
3.6 Research design...................................................................................................................24
3.7 Data collection.....................................................................................................................25
3.8 Data collection instrument...................................................................................................26
3.9 Sampling technique.............................................................................................................26
3.10 Data analysis process.........................................................................................................27
Chapter 4: Data analysis and discussion........................................................................................28
4.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................28
4.2 Findings and discussions.....................................................................................................28
4.2.1 Demographic factors.....................................................................................................28
4.2.2 Subjective factors..........................................................................................................36
4.2.3 Reliability test...............................................................................................................48
4.2.4 Correlation analysis......................................................................................................48
4.2.5 Cross tabulation............................................................................................................54
4.2.6 Regression analysis.......................................................................................................58
Chapter 5: Conclusions and recommendations..............................................................................60
5.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................60
5.2 Linking to the objectives.....................................................................................................60
5.2.1 Linking to the first objective.........................................................................................60
5.2.2 Linking to the second objective....................................................................................61

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5.3 Recommendations................................................................................................................62
5.4 Limitations and scope of future study.................................................................................62

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List of Tables
Table 1: Nationality of the participants.........................................................................................28
Table 2: Age group of the participants..........................................................................................29
Table 3: Gender profile of the participants....................................................................................30
Table 4: Occupation of the participants.........................................................................................33
Table 5: Reliability statistics.........................................................................................................46
Table 6: Correlations – Fragrance preference...............................................................................47
Table 7: Correlations – Cost..........................................................................................................48
Table 8: Correlations – Packaging.................................................................................................49
Table 9: Correlations – Aroma......................................................................................................50
Table 10: Correlations – Celebrity endorsements.........................................................................50
Table 11: Correlations – Friends and Family influence................................................................51
Table 12: Correlations – Customer service, satisfaction and loyalty............................................52
Table 13: Cross tabulation on Nationality * Does the price matter when buying fragrances?......54
Table 14: Cross tabulation on Nationality * Do you take advantage of special offers or
promotions?...................................................................................................................................55
Table 15: Regression of importance of price on high cost of fragrance........................................57

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List of figures
Figure 1: Nationality of the participants........................................................................................30
Figure 2: Age group of the participants.........................................................................................31
Figure 3: Gender profile of the participants..................................................................................32
Figure 4: Occupation of the participants.......................................................................................35
Figure 5: Preference for wearing fragrance...................................................................................37
Figure 6: Considering fragrance as luxury....................................................................................37
Figure 7: Changing fragrance brand frequently.............................................................................38
Figure 8: Buying fragrance for its brand value..............................................................................38
Figure 9: Significance of price while buying fragrance................................................................39
Figure 10: importance of special offers and promotions...............................................................39
Figure 11: High cost of fragrances................................................................................................40
Figure 12: Importance of bottle design..........................................................................................41
Figure 13: Importance of packaging..............................................................................................41
Figure 14: Preference for branded fragrance.................................................................................41
Figure 15: Importance of the aroma..............................................................................................42
Figure 16: Impact of aroma on the personality..............................................................................42
Figure 17: Impact of celebrity endorsements................................................................................43
Figure 18: Influence by bloggers and celebrities...........................................................................43
Figure 19: Fragrance makes one bold and confident.....................................................................44
Figure 20: Preference for new or best seller fragrances................................................................45
Figure 21: Influence by friends and family...................................................................................45
Figure 22: Reliability of The Fragrance Shop, UK.......................................................................46

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Figure 23: The Fragrance Shop provides excellent customer service...........................................46
Figure 24: The Fragrance Shop has user-friendly website............................................................47
Figure 25: Smooth website using experience................................................................................47

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction
The modern society is considered as the society of consumerism. In the recent years,
individuals are exposed by regular marketing activities. Based on the consumer behavior the
marketers try to improve their marketing strategy to influence the purchasing behavior of
consumers (Cantallops & Salvi, 2014). However, the daily life of people is governed by
consumption. For this purpose, it is crucial for an organization to understand the buying behavior
of consumers. At present retail industry has been facing challenges regarding the changing
behavior of consumers. Various factors are associated with the consumer behavior. The modern
consumers have more knowledge, which leads them to show different attitudes towards the
product or service. With the emergence of internet, the world has become smaller and people
have more access to knowledge and to the tangible products sourced from all corners of the
world. The consumer behavior is highly influenced by many other social factors other than the
price of the goods and fragrance industry experiences the same. The behavior of the consumers
regarding the purchase of fragrances is the subject matter of this research paper.
Marketing strategy of an organization should be consumer oriented. It is important for the
marketers to develop strategy, which can influence the purchasing behavior of consumers by
identifying the major factors of the consumer behavior (Maniatis, 2016). However, the changing
nature of consumers leads the organization to face issues in their business. This can be mitigated
by using proper marketing strategy to reveal the factors of consumer behavior. Many
organizations use the consumer behavior as the marketing tool to reach to their target market.
This study deals with the factors of on consumer behavior in the context of The Fragrance Shop,

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UK. This chapter introduces the topic of the research along with the background study of the
paper, research rationale, research aim and objectives, research questions, and research
hypothesis to the readers.
1.2 Background of the Study
The Fragrance Shop is a popular perfume maker in UK. This organization was
established in 1994. It has 200 stores across UK. They offer mainstream and luxury fragrances to
consumers (Thefragranceshop.co.uk, 2018). Their major products are Eau de perfume, Eau
Fraiche, Eau de Toilette and other essential oils. This is one of the eminent retailers in UK that
survived during the economic recession. However, year to year increased sale shows the high
growth of this organization. One of the major components of their infrastructure is the layout of
the shops. Such layout attracts the consumers towards this organization. In the recent years, The
Fragrance Shop has introduced a new brand that is Scent Addicted. This brand offers consumers
to test the perfume before using it. Therefore, consumer can try a perfume for 12 months. This
offer is a good marketing strategy for this organization to attract those consumers who often try a
new perfume. This organization also focuses on the consumers who are price sensitive. For these
consumers, they offer 30ml at £52.00. On the other hand, this organization gives money voucher
to those consumers who are associated with this organization for a long time. Therefore, they
give a discount of £12 to those people who want to buy a big bottle of perfume.
In UK market the social lifestyle of people is good, which leads them to spend more on
purchasing luxury products. This social factor influences The Fragrance Shop to offer new
products to attract the customer attention. Cultural, social, personal and psychological factors are
considered to understand the consumer behavior in the fragrance industry. Among the major
factors, social factor is vital that influences the purchasing behavior of the consumers in the

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perfume industry. However, in UK market perfume is considered as the multi-billion dollar
industry (Consultancy.uk, 2018). The growth of perfume industry is stable in last decades but the
consumer behavior is changing rapidly. This is a major concern of this industry, which develops
the urge to identify the factors affecting consumer behavior in this industry.
1.3 Research Rationale
Understanding the consumer behavior is the biggest task as well as challenge for the
consumer goods industry. Consumer behavior determines the growth of business for any
manufacturing product or services. Fragrance industry is no exception. This product is heavily
dependent on the consumer choices and hence, must understand the nuances of customer
behavior regarding age, sex, income, tastes and preferences and knowledge about different types
of fragrances. The rationale of this research is to evaluate the scope of the business growth for
the perfume selling company, The Fragrance Shop in the UK by addressing different aspects of
consumer behavior regarding purchasing of perfumes.
It is found that the company has launched new fragrance and has been giving various
promotional offers to the customers to try out the new product. It is necessary for the company to
assess the customers’ behavior and attitude towards the new product and the offers to achieve
success in the long run. Hence, this research aims at studying the consumer behavior regarding
the impact of the scent, influencing factors such as, friends, family and celebrity endorsements,
affinity towards luxury or branded perfumes, willingness to try new products, and especially the
price of the perfumes, which will help The Fragrance Shop, UK to formulate new strategies for
business expansion and make more profit.