Analysis of Consumer Behavior
The proposed strategy is aimed to promote a new line of personal care products in the US, which will target males of 18-35 and focus on the groups with income range from lower to mid-level. The distribution will take place in drugstores and large stores. The present paper is an analysis of consumer behavior which is to guide the further marketing decisions.
To achieve that aim, it is necessary to elaborate a type of message which will be used in promotion, analyze the cultures and groups towards which the product will appeal and select the optimal of them, and decide the ways to target this audience.
Considering the affordability of the product and specificity of target audience, the message to address the audience should present that personal care and hygiene for men is not a problematic issue. In reaching the young men, especially those with low income, it is important to overcome the masculine stereotypes and prejudice against men’s personal care and persuade the target audience that it is vital to keep oneself clean. In doing so, the marketing strategy will have to combat a stereotype about personal care as something being irrelevant for a man.
However, the currently dominating image of masculinity in advertising, muscular mesomorph, has associations with both homosexual and heterosexual men, which makes it rather universal and well perceived (Howson, 2013). This physical form of masculinity is perhaps the most universal and efficient visual image in the advertising of personal care products, and there is no sense in searching for a new model, especially considering the fact that potential target audience is very typical.Also, in presenting the line of personal care for men, it is also important to take into consideration the experience of other companies, which are promoting the goods under the label of being multitasking.
It has been noted that although the interest of men in personal care products is increasing, men remain utilitarian, and they better perceive the products which are more universal and require less efforts (Kimmel, 2015).Thus, a message have to address the issue of masculinity (declaring that the presented product line is good for real men) and at the same time present the line as affordable and reliable product. The advertising will provide images of successful men using the product and remaining the typical representatives of men’s world with their typical interests, appearance and attributes.Speaking about the cultures which the product has to appeal to, it is possible to consider groups in several dimensions.Firstly, it is necessary to define an income group. Speaking about the income level, the selected line is definitely aimed at people who earn not so much, since those men with higher income rather tend to purchase branded personal hygiene products. Thus the product line will be oriented towards people who usually do unqualified job (immigrants, people without proper education), or are currently at the early level of their career …
