24710 Buyer Behaviour For The Assessment Answer

Answers:

Introduction

Consumer behaviour is one of the most complex factors, which makes this difficult for others to really understand their buying behaviour. This is indeed very difficult to understand the factors that drive the buying behaviour in millennial customers such as in women Millennials. The topic has remained a point of discussion for a long time, which has maintained its texture as it still attracts many researchers done on the lifestyles of Millennials women such as their buying behaviour (Solomon 2014). The main purpose of this assignment is to check and analyze the factors, which drives the buying behaviour in Millennials women. The topic is interesting for a fact that the Millennials women are a potential consumer base to the retail markets if the companies keep a good track of their existing and the changing behaviour. It is very difficult to understand the factors influencing the buying habits of Millennials women as different researches and studies are producing some new findings. The paper would try to check the factors, which has first influenced the buying behaviour of the Millennials women for the cosmetics (Solomon, Russell-Bennett and Previte 2012). Moreover, the research would try to analyse the proposed study and would recommend some useful solutions to the retailers for penetrating deep into the buying behaviour of Millennials women.

Analysis

It has been identified based on some studies that word of mouth is the one factor, which encourages the Millennials in making decisions for the purchasing. Some study shows that in 20 to 50 percent of the cases, the word of mouth works wonderfully in constructing the decision-making skills in Millennials women. This has solid evidence behind it for its validity in the given facts. The Millennials women are very sensitive to price. It does not mean that they do not want to spend much on their choice of products, as it is also evident in their normal routine life that they are tech savvy and rely heavily on using the Smartphones (Eze, Tan and Yeo 2012). This is indeed the complexity in them about making decisions about their chosen product. They research a lot before they could actually plan for their final purchasing. They observe a lot more things or in other words, they are highly calculative, which makes them ask many questions to themselves while making decisions on purchasing. They drag themselves into a situation such as what products to buy and they keep on going with the same habits. In the early days when the Millennials women bought their first cosmetic product ever they were have no such techno logical advancements, which they have now. At that time, the word of mouth would have probably encouraged them initially in making their decisions (Dhanapal, Vashu and Subramaniam 2015). However, in the modern times, the buying habits of consumers are rapidly changing, which is because of their lifestyle. Their lifestyles have now largely been influenced by the usage of Smartphones. They cannot live without Smartphones. The way of interacting to the malls and the different products has now been transformed more into the social form of shopping. The Millennials women now have many e-commerce platforms such as Amazon. They now can browse their choice of products, which they can also compare on the different others e-commerce platforms. The sensitiveness towards the pricing of the products is still in the practice. However, they are some other factors, which encourage buy the products to the Millennials women. Those products are such as value to the money, advertisements and online marketing. The Millennials women are tech shrewdness and they spend their high time on the social media platforms. This is because of such reasons that such customers are more of comparing nature. They compare their choice of products for finding the best products for their pricing values. They are less driven by discounted offers; they rather are driven by high values products to their money (Dhanapal, Vashu and Subramaniam 2015).

This is very important to understand the characteristics behaviours of Millennials. This is because that they have sets of values in them for the different kinds of characteristics, which influence them while they think of buying something. They have high values for some of their inbuilt characteristics such as follows (Nikdavoodi 2013):

• Passion
• Happiness
• Sharing
• Diversity
• Discovery

They have strong values for sharing, which is very well reflected in their large reliability on the social media platform. They love social networking and reaching to others. They love using Smartphones. This is something, which encourages them for an online shopping and store pick up. The diversity in them towards various things does encourage them for observing and comparing a high list of same product before they actually buy those. The passion for the discovery does encourage them search every time some new products of their choice on the different social media platforms. They have high values for their happiness and this is why they love doing what they want. They love doing spending their significant time on the social media platforms. They also love buying something of their choice (Huda and Sultan 2013).

Irrespective of the characteristics of the Millennials women, they are potential customers for the retail market. However, different brands should know the way to capture the minds of their target customers. According to some study, the coming years would see some high-end business from the Millennials customers. The mentioned fact is making the retailers excited about the trend but they have conflicting solutions to the problems in the buying behaviour of the Millennials women (Huda and Sultan 2013). 

Industry research

According to a recent research on the beauty products, it has been found that the industry would see a big boom in the coming years. The elevating average income of the consumers and their changing lifestyles has all enhanced the prospect of the industry in the future. The study has forecasted that the industry would reach around $265 billion by 2017. The industry would see a growth of CAGR at 3.4% rates in the coming five years. Premium cosmetics have performed better than the mass cosmetics and those have eventually outperformed the mass cosmetics. Hair care products have now become the second potential choice for the falling behind to the cosmetic products such as skin care creams. However, the rising demands for the cosmetics have also challenged the retailers to produce quality products in reasonable prices. The demands for the cosmetic products are soaring to a new height in the Asia pacific region. The leading international leading hair care brands such as P&G, Unilever and L’Oreal are becoming more dependent on the Asia pacific region. Apart from the Asia pacific region, the European countries have also registered a homogenous growth in the demands of consumers for the cosmetics (Huda and Sultan 2013).

Consumer research

Some study shows that the Millennials women those who aged between 18 and 34 are found to be the heaviest buyers of the beauty products. Skin care and the hair products are in high demands. Millennials buyers have strong intentions to buy more than 10 products of the same type. They are not only he heaviest buyers of the cosmetic products but they are actually transforming the industry as well. Among the Millennials women, the one with the higher income is becoming the heaviest buyers of the cosmetics. Millennials are driving the cosmetic industry and its sales. YouTube and beauty blogs have proved their worth in influencing the buying behaviour of the Millennials women. The Millennials women are very keen of spending some moments on the different kinds of social media platforms such as YouTube and beauty blogs. This is because of such reasons that the different beauty channels, which are making sound advertisements of different products, they are getting high positive reviews from the Millennials women (Nikdavoodi 2013).

Despite of all the facts that the Millennials women are now becoming the heaviest buyers of the cosmetic products, they are still portraying the image of a complex behaviour, which is very hard to predict. The complex behaviour of the Millennials women is a problem for the highly growing cosmetic industry. They know that they are the heaviest buyers of the cosmetic items; however, they have also very suspicious nature that needs some serious drive. Moreover, it is very difficult to understand the single possible driving factor behind their decision-making. There are many purchasing trigger options such as advertising, online marketing, word of mouth and product pricing. It is very difficult to choose one potential factor, which could efficiently drive the purchasing decisions. Nevertheless, the first buy of the cosmetic item was done after observing a lot about the product and going by the word of mouth. However, it is still mysterious to conclude a single potential option to trigger the purchase in the Millennials women. Low pricing of the products might be a preferable choice for the generation X; however, it is not a suitable option for the Millennials women. This is because that they are highly inclined towards the product quality (Nikdavoodi 2013). They never buy such products, which does not have any values to their money. However, going by the trend that the Millennials women love being on the social media platforms, it can be concluded that probably the composure of three factors might do wonder to the different brands and the retailing companies. The word of mouth collectively with the help of online advertisements can very well help trigger the purchasing behaviour of the Millennials women. This is because that their utmost priority is the quality cosmetic products, which they love to have. However, they just need some effective triggering options, which could convert them into sales. Nevertheless, the Millennials women are very fond of online media platforms, which is the one possible option to the different retailers. Different retailers and the brands can use different online media platforms such as Beauty Blogs and YouTube to enhance the numbers of word of mouth in the Millennials women. The high-end publicity of the products to show the high numbers of word of mouth could be one very useful option to the retailers and the different brands (Nikdavoodi 2013).

Recommendations

It has been observed that Millennials women have strong attachments to the various social media platforms. This is also a fact that Millennials women are the heaviest customers of the cosmetic industry. However, there characteristics have always remained suspicious to the retailers and to the different brands. They are different to the baby Boomers. To understand the shopping behaviours of Millennials women, it is necessary that to reach to some conclusion, it is necessary to check some practical trends in the Millennials women. In this regard, the learner and his group arranged some interviews. They selected some shopping malls in the country for the interviews with the Millennials women. Some of the questions, which were asked, have also been attached to the appendix section of this assignment. Based on the interviews that were taken following recommendations could be made for influencing the buying behaviour of Millennials women:

Bringing sustainability in the product quality

The quality of the cosmetic products needs to be sustained in order to attain the highest loyalty of Millennials women. Millennials women are very loyal to the old things, which are high is quality. This is one such factor, which has the potentials in it to influence the behaviour of Millennials women towards a particular brand. This is also helpful generating a life-long relationship with them. The quality of the product is more close to their choice making strategies. They have no cares for the pricing of the products. They also do not have cares for the discounted pricing. They rather care more about the quality of the product. This is the reason behind their huge inclination for the premium products rather than for the mass cosmetics (Sundström et al. 2013).

Innovative products

Innovative products full of technological advancements should be tried to bring in the market. This is because of the fact that the Millennials women want solutions to their any kinds of skin requirements. This gives birth to the inception of newest technologies to bring some innovative products that could fulfil their demands and the requirements. However, innovation is not only sufficient, they also need to be incorporated with natural essence, so that; it could justify the requirement of being more natural to remain healthier. The highly changing behaviour of consumers towards their choice of products has enhanced the inception of innovativeness along with naturalness in the different new products. The different kinds of social media platforms are generating enough of awareness towards the natural cosmetics. There are also many herbal cosmetics in the industry, which makes this necessary that the different brands must preserve some level of naturalness in their product (Solomon 2014).

Socializing the word of mouths

This is another very effective way, which has potentials in it to capture the perception of Millennials women. The Millennials women are very used to social networking. Study shows that they are highly active on some social media sites such as YouTube, Beauty Blogs and Facebook. Study also shows a high percentage of such women who research a lot before they could actually make some purchase decisions. This indeed would be a great idea to publicize or in actual socialize the word of mouths of some high popular or potential products. The Millennials women are very active on the mentioned social sites and they are very active in researching the reviews related to their choice of products. This is why it is advisable and productive also to incept the chosen product related word of mouths to attract larger views of the Millennials women. They normally go with the higher ratings for a chose product. The word of mouths can be socialized in the different social platforms in the form of videos or some other material. The video can be shared through YouTube. Beauty Blog is another very useful social site, which the Millennials women follow their favourites YouTube (Rani 2014).

Competitive pricing of the products

Competitive pricing of the products is another very important factor, which gives them a broad list of same products. This would encourage them to search more on their choice products. The competitive pricing is worth for their pocketing values as they are very sensitive to the pricing of the products. It is not that they cannot spend much on their choice product; it rather means that they have high values for their money. This is why they chose quality products, which could provide values to their invested money. They do not also want ant discount on their choice product. They just want quality products at the best price. Competitive pricing of the products is very effective in changing and influencing the buying behaviour of Millennials women. This is because of the fact that the Millennials women search highly before they could actually arrive to some conclusion about the purchasing of the products. The competitive pricing of the products is highly preferred among the Millennials women but this does not mean that they have fewer values to the high-end prices. This rather only means that they have high values to their money, which they do not use on just a go. They rather do a high extensive research on selecting their choice of products before they could land up with the purchasing of the products (Muruganantham and Bhakat 2013).

Brand recognition

This is another very effective way in attracting a homogenous buy from the Millennials women. This is very effective a way as some of the brands is very popular among the Millennials women. Those brands are such as L’Oreal, Unilever and P&G. These brands have made their unique presence among the Millennials women. It is advisable and highly recommended that brand recognition is a very effective way to influence the buying perception of the Millennials women. Brand recognition is highly appreciable among the Millennials women because of various reasons such as loyal behaviour of the established brands. The Millennials women have high values for the old products. They want to preserve their old products, which are high in quality. Their loyalties to the high-end products enhances he probability of getting success with the brand recognition. For example, some of the brands such as L’Oreal, Unilever and P&G have their high values in Millennials women. They want to remain with their chosen brands only; however, it does not mean that they have no place to some other brands. It is just because that they have high values for their recognized brands, which they never change it easily (Permarupan et al. 2014).

Packaging

Packaging is another very important aspect of the attractive features, which influences the buying behaviour of Millennials women. The Millennials women are very susceptive towards the different physical appearances of their choice products. They are very susceptive towards the outer colour of the cosmetic item. They are also very inclined towards the designing of the product. These are some of the physical features of the product, which attracts the observance of Millennials women. Nevertheless, these are some very handful options, which helps enhance the attraction of Millennials women towards their chosen product (Raheem, Vishnu and Ahmed 2014).

Not to use on animals

This is also a significant recommendation for attracting the observance of Millennials women towards the product. The different brads should also ensure it by socializing the contents through most viewed social platforms such as YouTube and Beauty Blog. It enhances the thoughts that the product is made for the most deserving creature only, which are human beings (Priyanka and Rooble 2012).

Conclusion

Millennials women are the heaviest consumers of the cosmetic products. The cosmetic industry is going to be huge in the next five years. It then becomes necessary for the different companies that they have some better understanding of their buying behaviours of the Millennials women. The Millennials women have their high cares for the values of their money, which means that they buy only valuable and quality products. They are highly reliant on some social platforms such as YouTube and Beauty Blogs for searching their choice of products.

Reflective report

The interview, which my group and I conducted on some selected shopping malls in the country on the random Millennials women, produced some surprising yet expecting results. The interview helped me reach to some conclusion about the buying behaviour of Millennials women. The Millennials women are very choosy in their selection of products. They research a lot before they go for the shopping. They make some selections based on their research, which they do on their favourite social sites such as YouTube and Beauty Blogs. They search for their choice of brands. They are also very open to some other brands as well, if the brand is offering some high quality products at the most competitive prices. The interview also helped me understand that they have some selection about their choice of products, which make them curious for the every new products of the same brand. They made me actually realize that the Millennials women have very innovative thoughts as far as the products are concerned. They need solution to their every needs related to their skin and hair. This is because of such reasons that they are highly inclined towards new innovative products with some naturalness in it. The highly growing awareness towards the naturalness of the products has helped them change their perception towards their product selection. Their highly engaging addiction to the different kinds of social media platforms have made so happened. They are now getting inclined towards those products, which are innovative as well as natural.

I also came to know some interesting facts about the Millennials women, which I never knew before. They develop various questions into themselves before they could make decisions on their buying. The questions, which they build up, are originated from their several characteristics that compel them for such.  They have high passions for cosmetic items. They are also very inclined towards Smartphones. They spend their high amount of time on the Smartphones. I was shocked to hear from some of the Millennials women about their buying behaviour. Those women said that they also consider that ignored feature also, which is of no use to some Millennials women. The particular feature is about the some caution message for the product, which says that the product is ‘not for use on animals’. To those strange Millennials women, it means many a thing as it speaks for the Millennials women purpose only. The interview has left me with many kinds of illusions about the Millennials women. The Millennials women are very sceptic about the quality of the product. They have also very high values to their choice of products. Nevertheless, they are passionate about the cosmetic products, which they give high priorities and they search a lot before they could actually land up purchasing the same. The Millennials women especially those in the age group of (18-34) have different regards to their choice of products. They rely high on the words of mouth, which actually help them buy their choice of products.

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