Marketing Management -1

Consumer Behaviour Exercise

Manan Gupta – 210101050

Interviewer: Manan Gupta

Interviewee: Dr. Shivangini
Date of Interview: 29/08/21
Product Bought: Lipsticks and Beauty products
Price: Approx Rs. 8000

Summary

Dr. Shivangini recently bought Lipsticks and make-up beauty products for herself which was
amounting to about Rs. 8000. While interviewing her, many interesting facts came to light on
her buying decision process. It was revealed that she didn’t change her buying patterns much
and prefers to purchase products which suit her skin and are tried and tested. Repetitive
buying of same product was also seen. This shows that she had built trust in the specific
brand of lipstick and didn’t wish to experiment too many new variants. She never buys a
totally new product until she has heard of it. Some brands she bought were – Maybelline
Lipsticks, Skincare products from Lotus and some other dermat products.

On asking how the buying decision was made, it was revealed that word-of-mouth played an
important role in pushing her to make the purchase. Dr. Shivangini usually follows Instagram
influencers. Also she tries products which are suggested from her friends. Even though the
friends have not been using it for long enough, a sense of trust develops in her and the
product automatically becomes a priority.

The pandemic has played a significant role in the changing buying patterns. Even though the
lipsticks were a routine back in time, they are not used much now due to masks and hence the
lipstick packs last longer. Also the beauty products were bought in bulk. So this states that,
the quantity of purchase remains almost the same even though the number of purchases being
made around the year have decreased. One more change in pattern is due to the skin problems
associated with wearing masks. Dr. Shivangini stated that she got a lot of acne as she had
spent long hours wearing masks in hospital. This influenced her to try new makeup and skin
care products.

Some key attributes were kept in mind while buying these products like duration (how long it
stays), transfer to mask and eatables, cost of product and reviews. YouTube searches were
done to see which colour matches which complexion. She also looked for alternatives doing
the same function as the regularly used products. In this recent purchase, one product was
new while the others were ‘Safe’ options. This show that brand trust also played a major role
in the selection.
Dr. Shivangini reviewed each and every product on multiple websites before making the final
purchase. Along with reviews, she made few Google searches, watched some YouTube
videos and read some blogs. Also she got advice from friends. The sale seasons were the
biggest attraction to her. She visited Mantra, Nykaa, Amazon and Flipkart which follow
competitive sale periods. Getting genuine products was also a big concern, as the product is
not in front of your eyes.

Her preferred website was Amazon as everything was readily available and the website had
faster delivery, good tracking and almost 30-40% less price as compared to other sites. She
never bought products with low/no reviews. No physical stores were visited to make this
purchase decision as she wanted to avoid physical contact. E-commerce sites were more
convenient in every way.

On being asked the top 5 things considered while making the purchase decision, the
following attributes were told:
1. Quality
2. Price
3. Genuinity
4. Reviews
5. Amount/ Weight/How long it lasts.

Key Insights

 Word of mouth plays a major role in the buying decision of the consumer.
 Social media marketing by influencers has had a positive purchase impact.
 Covid-19 Pandemic has made changes in the buying trends as the needs have shifted
to other areas which were not a problem before.
 Consumers wish to go with ‘Safe’ products or alternatives rather than trying
something new.
 Lower prices attract customers even when the genuinity of the product is
questionable.
 Consumers follow reviews. Be it on the e-commerce website, social media of
streaming services.

Annexure

 Audio recording named : 210101050_Manan