Case Study on "Skin-Care Product Characteristics Skin-Care Products Are Primarily"

/>With the general spectrum of skin-care products available, it is a distinct observation that Asian markets are prominently held by only a singular category of products. In the past decade, skin whitening products seem to be have captured the Asian market in ways that were unprecedented in others (Bird, Caldwell, and DeFanti, 2010). Li et al. (2004) cites the dramatic growth of skin and whitening products in the four Asian markets (i.e. India, Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea) that they have investigated. Bird et al. (2010) corroborates this observation in the social phenomenon by which such products have even been made available to women of lower social economic classes. It seems then that skin-whitening product is veering away from a luxury positioning, making it a daily usage product instead. The popularization of skin whitening products has been such that it skyrocketed from only 50 brands in 2002 to at least a total of 226 skin-whitening products in 2006 (August, 2008).

This trend is similar in the Asia Pacific countries, especially in Thailand. August (2008) cites a 2004 consumer study yielding that least 58% of Thai women from the age of 18-64 and with a household income of at least 20,000 baht (roughly USD 665) have used skin whitening products in the past, with respondents spending at least USD 65 for the purchase of such products. Fuller (as cited in Bird et al. 2010) states this as a general indication how such products have been marketed aggressively in the Asian Market -- whiter skin is to be aspired for.

Consumer Purchase Behavior

Consumer behavior is defined as a dynamic process in which both emotional and rational points of interpolation, in the presence of environmental influences, make way for a process of exchange involving the acquisition, consumption or facilitation of goods, ideas, services, and experiences (Bennett, 2009). In this sense, the buying process is affected by a confluence of factors, of all which facilitate a constant tug-of-war that may or may not result in the actual purchase.

Hoyer and MacInnis (2008) implicate the psychological core of the consumer that consists of three critical factors that affect such an effort: (1) motivation; (2) ability, and (3) opportunity to engage in such decisions of purchase. This mechanism is tempered by the fact that companies themselves are in the act of marketing the specific goods and products, virtual or otherwise, to the consumer a process by which can be led to or away from a product based on the competitive advantages of the different marketing efforts being bombarded. In this case, it can just be simply noted that consumers coming into contact with marketing stimuli, exhibiting attention and finally perception, would increase the probability of actual purchase (Bennet, 2009).

The process of marketing, in this case, is the act by which consumers are led to a particular tipping point in decision-making that is incremental in mechanism but should lead to product loyalty in its finality (Bush and Burns 2001). Bennett (2009) describes this behavior as the purchase funnel, a metaphor by which describes a consumer journey into the product buy-in: brand awareness, brand familiarity, brand opinion, brand consideration, first choice intention, shopping/trial, and purchase. Purchase, in this context, coincides with the point of repetition or loyalty from the standpoint of the consumer, an act by which the product will be purchased again and again for a significant amount of time.

Primary Drivers Toward Purchase Behavior

Brand Influence

Fitszimons, Chartrand, and Fitszimons (2008) studied the priming effects of brands on human behavior and found that there is a significant effect depending on the product imagery. This means that product brands, the whole confluence of images, metaphors and personalities included in their portrayal are ultimately powerful enough to change the course of a particular individuals behavior. The reason for this is that brands, having their own personality characteristics depending on the consumer perception, could resonate well with individual personality traits of people (Fitszimons et al., 2008; Sirgy et al., 2007). Aside from this, brands are also seen as aspirational symbols that represent personal qualities that individuals feel they don't have but they must acquire (Fitszimons et al., 2008).

Evidence of this have long been predicted in market research literature (Bennet, 2009). A consumer's psychographics -- learned predispositions that are translated into values, beliefs, attitudes affecting purchase behavhior - will react to marketing efforts depending on the particular intersections it has with the consumer perception of what their lives are. In this case, it can be seen as part of the narrative of a person, a product being not only bought for its functional aspects but also for the beneficial imageries that it confers as a consequence of the purchase (Sirgy et al., 2007).

This kind of brand influence, however can only be as successful depending on the degree by which different environmental factors are put into play. Hoyer and MacInnis (2008) expresses the important of an experiential quality to the formation of brand perceptions that makes it all the more influential in the long run. It is true that at the bottom of the puchase funnel, there are already influential elements being put into play, but the fact still remains that the product trial itself, is the most influential in terms of affecting consumer perception (Bennet, 2009).

The Influence of Quality

This belies the importance of creating the perception of a high-quality product for the consumer. Iyer and Kuksov (2010) investigated the role of affect activities in consumer brand perception, focusing on how estimations of quality, however the actual product, could influence the actual customer decision. Iyer and Kusksov (2010) exemplified affect activities such as retail agents baking cookies for their clientele which, even if they are not necessarily crucial to the actual quality of the houses they are selling, creates a fluid relationship by which the consumer could perceive a sense of quality in the transaction -- an act which therefore could lead into the purchase decision.

Given this, if perceptions of quality could change a consumers purchase decision, then the assumption of a rational basis for quality could also become a touchpoint for purchase. Hsee et al. (2009) showed this in a study that significantly points out the strong influence of actual product specifications could essentially sway a consume toward a purchase decision even without the actual experience being formed. In this case, quality was directly associated with the specifications of the products, a result that leads to the understanding of product attributes as a purchase driver.

In this case, what is being pointed out here is not only does the imagery of the product matter, it is still pertinent that that the actual product is sold by its specific qualities alone. Marketing could only go so far as to strengthen brand image. The reverse is also true for product quality could only soar up to a limited height, so to speak, if there was not aforementioned way of spreading the word. Brand also influences quality in its own unique way, with recent studies showing that brands could confer quality on the particular products even if the products themselves are fake (Fitszimons et al., 2008).

The Influence of Packaging

Ghoshal, Boatwright, and Cagan (2009) delved into the study of the immediate and perceived influences of product packaging on product valuation and found that there is a significant effect as to the quality product and the integration of positive brand attributes. As pointed out in the study, the emotional hold of attractive packaging is… READ MORE