Consumers Preference in Mens Grooming - Essay Example

? Topic: men’s grooming Introduction The current globalization era, the advancement of technology, education system, the society and economy are factors that have greatly improved people’s standard of living.These factors relate directly to the rapid growth of beauty cosmetic industry. The increase in demand makes the industry to grow faster. Most people in the current decade prefer hygiene in beauty because of the numerous diseases in the environment that are caused by a careless handling of the body (Cole, 2008. Pg. 17). Human skin is very delicate and require proper handling thus hygiene is one of the key areas to consider in the production of beauty cosmetics. Many companies have ventured into the cosmetic industry as it is highly profitable since beauty products are very expensive and the demand is very high. Most people in the current generation would like to keep their bodies healthy, beautiful and good looking. A light skin and a well-shaped body structure is what demonstrate the desire of many people. Many advertisements use the notion of beauty in promotion and marketing of products. Beauty has turned out to be a form of attraction and everyone for this reason; does wish to be beautiful and admirable. The beauty industry has turned out to be a gold mine as companies make huge amounts of profits and the selling season runs continuous annually. Beauty products infer psychologically that consumers are taking charge of their beauty, hygiene and healthiness by regularly using beauty products. Women use to be the leading agents of beauty and cosmetics thus female beauty products made booming sales in the beauty market. Lately, men have turned out to show their admiration of healthy living and body maintenance. Men are currently aware of the importance of beauty as they take keen attention to beautifulness, aesthetics, healthiness youthfulness and thinness. All these are considered to be factors that draw men close to youthfulness and far away from aging options. Consumer behaviour This is a collection of entities that determine the consumer’s preference in buying certain products. There are divided into four major sections. These are: social, cultural, personal and psychological. Culture Human beings are surrounded by the society and culture. Cultural values have a great influence on the human way of thinking. It directly affects their preferences and the choices they make. In the context of marketing, culture is viewed as the driving factor to different perceptions, norms values, wants, attitudes, beliefs and manners acquire by a member of a given society from the surrounding environment of people with the same language, behaviour and form of living. Culture gives people the mentality to judge what is appropriate, normal and expected by the society (Cole, 2008. Pg. 23). This notion plays a big role in marketing of commercial products. It has influenced the choice and taste in beauty and the choosing of men’s products. The geographical surrounding of people is the basis of culture and its influence to in the selection of fashion and beauty materials. A European man has his style of fashion and beauty accessories that are different from the American man or the African man. In this case, some beauty products are designed to be global based items but end up selling in selective parts of the world. In the men’s perspective, this can be articulated to culture which influences preferences and choice of commodities. People who belong to the same culture same interests, values as well as behaviour. This can be linked to the similarity in brand preferences and distinct products. Theorists believe that people are adapting to diversity in culture. In this case consumerist lifestyle is in the verge of overshadowing the cultural motivated preferences that people grow up with having acquired them form their upbringing surroundings. Consumerist lifestyle heartens people to linger in adopting new needs and desires. Social factors Social groups have a lot of impact on individuals. Men are greatly affected by this factor when it comes to selection of fashion or beauty cosmetic products. Most men copy their fashion from friends, family members or colleagues at work. Unlike women, very few men have originality in their choices, taste and preferences. Though originality is not common in men’s selection, they have recently found it very crucial to adapt to a bit of originality in cases of beauty cosmetic product (Fragoso. 2008. Pg 19). This is because beauty cosmetic products are not only meant for creating attention or providing the comfort that enables one to fit in a certain group but they are designed with nutritional aspects that are vital to the body especially the skin. Personal factors The lifestyle of a person affects his or he decision in the commodity to purchase. Lifestyle is defined as a person’s mode of living and is characterized by his or her actions (Clow & Barrack 2011. Pg 7). Lifestyle affects preferences and choices that people make. People of high social classes prefer using expensive commodities thus prefer buying cosmetics on the basis of brand or originality. However, people of lower social classes can do with any type of commodity as long as it satisfies their desires. Men are highly affected by this factor. Forms of lifestyle affect men’s cosmetic market as some companies produce commodities that can only be affordable to men of high social background. The few companies that are considerate with their prices produce products of minimal quality because of the high demand in the market and expensive nature of raw materials. Psychological factors The psychological factors contribute to the external environment that determines men’s grooming. The human psychological theories states that the decision making procedure of a customer is directly affected by his or her subconscious motives (Bacharach. 2006. Pg 33). In other terms, the subconscious motive can be as well defined as the ‘inner drive’ of a person. Men’s cosmetic market is greatly influenced by this aspect. Latelymen are striving away from the notion of lack of originality to the use of the subconscious motive in decision making. Companies are forced to study the subconscious motives of men in order to produce commodities that satisfy their needs. Conclusion The world of beauty has recently been a center of attention with men and women struggling to keep up with the emerging trends of fashion.Cosmetics are among the accessories of men that act as contributors to the completion of a man’s fashion. Men have different preferences which vary with taste, environment, change in fashion trend and the geographical location of a person. All this are factors to look into when external factor that should be considered in developing men’s grooming. References Cole, L. 2008. Male grooming grows up: ICIS chemical business: vol. 273, no. 11, and pp. 15-34. Fragoso A, Jr. 2008. Men's Grooming: London. Lulu pub Bacharach B. 2006. Right dress; success through better grooming: New York. Barnes pub Clow K E., Barack D. 2011. Cases in Marketing Management: New York. Sage pub Read More