The effectiveness of a male grooming solution to improve male shopper behaviour towards the purchase of personal care products.

Abstract

The cosmetic industry over the years has proven to be one of the fastest growing and most profitable industries globally. In the male cosmetic industry, male grooming and metrosexual trends have rapidly expanded across global communities, and in recent years have become a leading trend amongst South African men who are looking after their health as well as their physical appearance. The advent of the metrosexual trend has captured enormous attention for men to be more alert and mindful of their self-image, how to enhance their external appearance and how to uphold their own handsomeness no matter what challenges they may be facing. These emerging trends subsequently shaped the way businesses and companies expanded product lines and developed strategies to influence the shopping behaviour of men. Therefore, this study - to influence and improve male shopper behaviour towards the purchase of personal care products, investigated the effectiveness of a male grooming solution. This was a quasiexperimental study conducted among male shoppers at the Pavillion Shopping Centre in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire between pre- and post-installation of the male grooming zone. Results indicated that pre installation of the male zone, shampoo, face care and body lotion were the highest consumed products while post installation results indicated that deodorant had the highest consumption rate followed by body lotion; while the face care and the perfume/cologne/aftershave segment were purchased at the same rate. It was also found that the intervention of the male grooming zone, post installation, had a perceived positive impact on self-image, self-esteem, lifestyle and celebrity association. The study revealed that emotional value, epistemic value and social value of the male shoppers were also perceived to have improved significantly post the installation of the male grooming zone. More than three quarters of male shoppers indicated that they preferred the new shopping environment. The outlook of male shoppers towards shopping for personal care products was also favourable and the amount of money spent on personal care products almost doubled. The study recommends that male grooming merchandise solutions be conceptualized and implemented for the improvement of male shopper behaviour towards the purchase of personal care products.