Contents

1 Introduction
The concept of preferring the people with fair-skin has long been recognized
socially and it has been the psychological and social impact on women to be fair.
But in the recent years, men too have started giving importance on personal
grooming, beginning with fair skin. The market for fairness cream was restricted to
women only till 2005; but Emami catered to men with its product Fair and
Handsome. Till then the fairness cream had dominated the cosmetic market
covering male and female segments. It is clear from television and matrimonial
advertisements that the market for fairness creams in India is huge. The increasing
demand of fair bride and groom creates the field for the national and international
players to invest in the cosmetic markets and more particularly in fairness cream
products to cater the needs of new generations. Celebrities like Sonam Kapoor,
Shah Rukh Khan, John Abraham and Katrina Kaif are brand ambassadors for major
fairness creams. The growth in consumerism and the changing life style of Indian
youth have led to strong demand for fairness creams. Indias swelling middle class
is redefining lifestyle pattern with adoption of western values and growing brand
consciousness; creating opportunity for the global players in fairness cream market.
The Indian market is experiencing stronger demand for fairness creams due to the
increased media and untapped markets targeting the rural segment. Another key
driver is the increased penetration level of male spending behaviour on cosmetics.
The fairness product market has captured the people from 360 degree angle. (1)
Ever since the macho look was replaced by the metrosexual look, men have started
taking a greater interest in their appearance. From visiting parlors for manicures
and pedicures to spas, they are concentrating on every aspect of grooming. And
that means falling for fairness products. (2) As for the women, fairness creams
perpetuate the particular pressure on Indian women to look beautiful. Even with the
changing trends, India's obsession with skin fairness has typically been found to be
gender-lopsided and targeted more towards women. With changing lifestyles, higher
disposable incomes, and the sharp rise inglobalization via television and the
Internet (by which more Indians are being exposed to foreign physical attributes,
such as fair skin and blond hair), however, also contribute to this growth. Fairness
creams perpetuates the particular pressure on Indian women to look beautiful, as
the country's obsession with skin fairness is typically found to be gender-lopsided
and targeted more towards women. This is the main reason as to why the women
use fairness creams. (3) With its increasing frequency of use by both the genders,
Creams have long been used as a unisex product with varying degrees of marketing
complexities. 2 Literature Review
In order to understand the ways to market to men and women, we will first need to
understand certain inherent traits and differences in their buying behaviour. S.
Bakshi (2009), quoted that out of all the factors that influence customers decision
making behaviour, one of the major factors is the gender. It refers to the social

relationship/ roles and responsibilities of men and women, the expectations held
about the characteristics, aptitudes and likely behaviours of both women and men
(femininity and masculinity) that are learned change over time and vary within and
between cultures. (6) Contemporary research is vast and extensive on the buying
behaviour of fairness creams. S. Mohanty (2012) found that the choice of a new
fairness cream brand gives maximum weightage to quality of new brand and
current fashion and less importance to current price and whether it is new in the
market. The most influential social factor of choosing a brand of fairness cream was
the advertisement, followed by family, friends, and neighbours in that order. The
study also went on to conclude that. The purchase decision making of fairness
cream is associated with the value of the brand. It is also found that the value of the
branded fairness cream for the people was mostly social acceptability and the
value for money. Respondents gave the least preference to satisfaction for the
value of the brand. (1) Sudhakar et. al. (2012) investigated the social causes for
purchase of personal care products. They found that there was a significant
influence of age in the purchase of categories of fairness creams. Here again, it was
concluded that the chief social factors influencing purchasing decision for fairness
creams were family, friends and neighbours, in that order. (4) Women use fairness
creams in abundance and men have only recently starteddoing so recently. A. B.
Junaid et. al. (2013) found that as the income level of female consumers is
increasing their expenditure for cosmetic product is also increasing. We also found
that there is an increase in the awareness as well related to cosmetic products. One
major finding in our study tells us that these days female consumers prefer more of
cosmetic products which are made from the natural ingredients in other words we
can say that they prefer herbal cosmetic products. (8) S. S. Shimpi (2012) et. al.
found that the usage of fairness creams was more in the higher income group with
men. The variables influencing their preference texture of product, promised effects,
previous usage experience and suitability to skin type are the key variables from the
studied product attribute variables. (7) Mary S. et. al. (2012) explains the shifting
trends of both male and female FMCG product industry, towards a common unisex
platform. They go ahead to explain the various approaches towards marketing the
same product to both masculine and feminine genders, with respect to three
different scenarios. (5) Rural markets are still untapped to a large extent by the
fairness cream industry. S. Najma (2010) that a key part of the success of a fairness
product in a rural town like Tanjore was based on celebrity endorsements and
advertisement quality. (9). At the end of it all, there have been a mix of speculative
and supportive theories on the actual working of fairness creams. In this direction,
M. Agarwal et. al. (2012) came up with the recommendation of carefully segregating
the product being used as under (10): If agents act by protecting UV radiation
absorption, they should be called as sunscreens, preventing further darkening and
not causing fairness. Fairness creams that are acting by modifying chemical
reactions within the body i.e. by inhibiting melanin synthesis should be brought
under the category of a drug. 3 Theory and Hypothesis

3.1 Hypothesis:
H0: Men and women differ in their use of creams
We conducted a qualitative survey which consisted of 15 in-depth interviews (8
males, 7 females). The interviews gave us an insight into the various factors that
affect the buying decision of consumers. The various factors included promotional
offer, brand equity, packaging, price, utility etc. 3.2 Data collection:
Through our literature review, we came to know that the use of creams by men is
still perceived with a pinch of salt. The use of creams among men is increasing, but
the rate of acceptance in general society is slower. Thus, we have used the Depth
Interview process of data collection for our Qualitative research. To maintain
uniformity, we have used the same tool for the survey of both men and women
candidates. Depth interviews are one of the most powerful tools for unearthing
insights; it gave us a deeper understanding of our subjects and their various
motivations behind the same. The questions posed during the Depth Interviews
covered a wide range of inputs as given in Appendix 1. The table below highlights
the initial opinions of males and females and the factors that influence their buying
behaviour. FEMALES
MALES
a) Females are more inclined towards the brand image, celebrity endorsements and
packaging. b) Further, we also understood that price is not an important factor and
the variations in price do not affect their purchase behavior. c) It was also noticed
that females prefer herbal products over conventional cosmetic creams and would
like to test a sample before switching to new brand a) Males are these days more
open towards using creams due to the presence of a separate men grooming
segment. b) Peer to peer suggestion is one factor that influences the purchasing of
creams c) Men prefer freshness factor in the product rather than fragrance.
Based on the interviews and literature study, we have identified the independent
and dependent variables, mentioned below: 3.3 Variables
Dependent Variable: Usage of cream Expenses
Independent Variable: Below is the list of independent variable that we have
selected to study the usage behaviour. Price
Fragrance
Brand n quality
Skin-type suitability
Fairness skin tone
Promotional offer
Sunscreen.
Moisturiser.
Celebrity endorsement
Packaging
The questionnaire for the same is in Appendix 2 and was administered to a sample

size of 130 individuals evenly distributed across both the genders. Justification of
Scales used for variables:
1. All of the independent variables are interval data measurements. We have used
the Likert scale for measuring these variables because of its inherent simplicity and
ease of interpretation. 2. The data captured through this exercise is nondichotomous in nature. But within themselves, we aim to understand the greatest
motivations in customers, which push them to purchase a cream. This will help us in
formulating a sound marketing strategy, revolving around the most important
factors. 4 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
4.1 Test of Reliability
The reliability test was done with Cronbach Alpha value each of the variables used.
If the value of Cronbach alpha against the variable is close to or greater than 0.6, it
indicates that the variables are reliable and hence proceed with the research. For
our questionnaire, the data for the variables was given as input for the test and we
received a positive on all the variables that were used. The output of this test is
attached in the Exhibit 1. We got the value of 0.804, thereby helping us conclude
that the variables and questions were reliable. 4.2 Factor Analysis
Factor Analysis is an interdependence technique and is primarily used in case of
data reduction and summarization when there are a large number of variables to be
dealt with. They may possess a high probability of being correlated amongst each
other. This kind of data is then treated by Factor analysis and is represented in
terms of a few underlying factors. Apart from reducing dimensionality, Factor
Analysis helps in identifying Latent variables resulting from correlations between set
of variables. Factor Analysis is also used as a first step to Regression Analysis to
focus on latent variables so as to take into account all the drivers in the analysis.It is
used in Cluster Analysis to identify attributes with greatest correlation to the factor
scores. The independent variables were input in SPSS for factor analysis to be
performed. The output resulted such that 3 out of the 6 used independent variables
had an Eigen value of over 1 and hence only these get translated into factors. We
will henceforth be using only these three factors going forward in our research by
studying the effect of these three factors on the dependent variable. The result of
the factor analysis is shown in Exhibit 2. For Men:
No significant Interaction/ correlation in case of the male data set. So we ran the
regression. By observing the beta weights (Exhibit 4) it is seen that advertising has
the maximum impact on the For Women
The three factors need to be named according to all those variables that are loaded
high (>.6) on the factors. The following are the names given for the same: (Exhibit
3) Factor 1: Advertising: - Advertisement has a loading of 0.830 after rotation and
celebrities also seems to have a high loading of 0.698 on factor 1 and we thus name
them Advertisement Factor 2: Price: - Price has a high loading on factor 2 about

0.874 and we thus name it Price Factor 3: Packaging: - Packaging has a high
loading on factor 3 around 0.851 and we thus name it Packaging 4.3 Results And
Analysis (Male)
Sample size: 63
Adjusted R square: 0.142
On running a bivariate correlation analysis, we found that there was no high level of
correlation between the various independent variables, hence in the next step was
to run a regression analysis the six independent variables that we considered are:
a) Price d) Packaging
b) Loyalty e) Promotion
c) Advertisingf) Celebrity Quotient
By interpreting the table in Exhibit 6, we see that the advertising has the maximum
impact on the monthly expense by men on the cream used by them. Hence, we can
recommend that the best way to have an impact on the targetsegment of Males, we
will need to spend more on the advertising when compared to the other factors. 4.4
Result And Analysis (Female)
Sample size: 67
Adjusted R square: 0.114
The correlation analysis exhibit that there is a high degree of correlation between
the independent variables. Hence, we followed up with a rotated component factor
analysis, which indicated that prominent factors were Celebrity Endorsements /
Advertisements, Price and Packaging. Further, on performing the regression analysis
on these three factors it was seen that the celebrity endorsements (i.e. Celebrity +
Advertisement) contributes significantly to the usage of fairness cream amongst the
females. (Exhibit 7)
5 Conclusion
Our study showed that men and women have different preferences when it comes
to buying fairness creams. Men are indifferent towards the prices of the cream and
decide to buy creams irrespective of their prices. They base their decision solely on
advertising. For them the celebrities involved in advertisement do not matter.
Similarly, promotion and packaging also do not play a significant role. They do not
exhibit any sort of loyalty towards any product. If the prices change their purchasing
decisions of the fairness creams also changes. Hence, we conclude that to increase
the penetration/sales of the fairness creams we suggest companies to come up with
great advertisements to lure men into buying fairness creams. For women, loyalty
and promotion are not significant. Women exhibit lack of adhesiveness towards a
product and company. With our survey we have found that women do not show any
keen interest on promotion related to a product and a personality. Promotion, which
plays a major role in spreading awareness and brand value of a product in
consumers, is not having a value when solely women category is taken care. From

our survey analysis, we notice that women give more value to celebrity
endorsements and price. Further, women have positive perspective towards
packaging of the product, hence company can position towards this trait of the
product
6 Appendix
6.1 Qualitative Questions
1. Do you use fairness creams? Which one? For how long have you been using this
cream? 2. State the factors that influence your purchase decision while buying
fairness creams? Price, promotion, quality, availability, promotional behavior,
advertisement + other media publicity 3. Which brand were you using before and
what are the reasons for shifting? Fragrance, dint suit my skin, quality, availability 4.
Are you satisfied with the brand you are currently using? 5. Do celebrities influence
your choice of a fairness cream? 6. Are you open to trying out new creams? Does
packaging matter? 7. Would you accept using a fairness cream in public
8. Have these creams really worked?
9. Have you ever tried the cream for the other gender?
10. Herbal products or it is immaterial?
11. Do you like the consistency or you want variations in the current product? 12.
Scheme that you prefer:- price off, free gifts shampoo+ cream, 13. Do you need
variations in the current product?
6.2 Appendix 2: Questionnaire on Cosmetic Cream
QUESTIONNAIRE
Q1. Age
Q2. Sex
Q3. Do you use fairness creams
Dependent Variable: Expenses (Open Ended Question)
Q1. If you were to allocate a monthly budget for your purchase of creams, how
much would it be _____? Independent Variable: Price (Measured on a 1-5 Likert
Scale)(Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree) Q1.I usually buy the lowest priced
products?
Q2. I am very concerned about low prices?
Q3. I look carefully to find the best value for money?
Q4. I feel high priced products are usually better and these become my choice?
Independent Variable: Product Loyalty (Measured on a 1-5 Likert Scale)(Strongly
Disagree Strongly Agree) Q1. I buy the same product every time.
Q2. Once I find a product I like, I always buy it irrespective of its price fluctuations?
Q3. I often buy different products each time I shop?
Independent Variable: Advertising (Measured on a 1-5 Likert Scale)(Strongly
Disagree Strongly Agree) Q1. I buy the most advertised products?

Q2. I am indifferent to advertizing?

Q3. I buy advertised products because they are dependable and reliable.
Celebrity Endorsements (A semantic scale of 7)
I buy a product because the celebrity endorsing it is:
Independent Variable:Attractiveness
1. Unattractive -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Attractive.
2. Plain -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Elegant.
Independent Variable:Expertise
1. Not an Expert -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Expert.
2. Unknowledgeable -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Knowledgeable.
Independent Variable:Trustworthiness
1. Undependable -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Dependable.
2. Untrustworthy -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Trustworthy.
Independent Variable: Packaging (Measured on a 1-5 Likert Scale)(Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree) 1. I buy products that have easy-to-use packaging.
2. I buy products irrespective of its packaging.
Independent Variable: Promotion/coupons (Measured on a 1-5 Likert Scale)(Strongly
Disagree Strongly Agree) 1. I buy as much as possible when the product is at
sale?
2. I like redeeming coupons and buy products that provide me with one?
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