Dollars and scents

Editor's note: Jim Schwartz, Ph.D., is marketing research manager with Newsweek magazine. Gale Muller, Ph.D., is vice president with the Gallup Organization.

In our high-tech age, it is difficult to imagine a major industry without a wealth of marketing data to guide decision making. Yet there are exceptions. From next-to-nothing 15 years ago, men's fragrance is now a one billion dollar industry annually. With new brands coming to market every year, industry expectation is that retail sales of aftershave and cologne will continue to be strong.

Despite that positive outlook, the men's fragrance market has been proceeding fortuitously with minimal marketing information, for indeed little marketing research has been conducted to help guide the industry.

Recognizing this gap, Newsweek and six other magazines, in association with the Fragrance Foundation, commissioned the Gallup Organization in 1990 to conduct a landmark survey, the first and only one in the public domain, on the way men buy and use fragrance.

This case study provides an opportunity for considering ways in which marketing research may be used to better understand and sell to a "new" market. Among the questions we wanted answered were:

  • How can the fragrance market be described?
  • How is its success explained?
  • What can be done to increase industry profits?

The results are presented in this article in three sections: market descriptors, purchase motivations, and marketing implications.

1) Market Descriptors. Information about usage patterns, purchase patterns, and general demographic profiles was collected. These data provide a foundation for ongoing market research within this emerging category.

2) Purchase Motivations. In addition to descriptors, marketers want the "reasons why" consumers buy a product or service. Our survey addressed the issue of what motivates, or drives. a purchase. Thus, it provides the initial "psychographic" baseline for future, more sophisticated research. In exploring motivations, the research uncovered a unique and critical market segment. These motivations could serve as the basis for future marketing hypotheses-which may be tested by additional market research or by measurement of actual sales in the marketplace.

3) Marketing Implications. The data collected in this survey suggested a wide variety of implications for the fragrance industry concerning ways to market its product better for increased sales.

In this study, data were collected through telephone interviews in April 1990 with a representative sample of 808 men in the key marketing target: Ages 18-49 (hereafter the sample will be referred to as "men" without adding the age qualification).

Market Descriptors

A user scheme

We hypothesized at project inception that there were either three or four levels of fragrance usage, with heavy usage being defined as five or more days per week, as a function of the work schedule. In fact, five fragrance usage levels emerged from this research. Especially surprising was learning that one-third (33%) of all men are "extra-heavy" users who wear fragrance every day of the week. In addition, 17% of the men are "heavy" fragrance users, wearing it five or six days each week. Thus, half of all men in the key target market wear fragrance at least five days every week.

The three other user levels are "light" users who wore fragrance one to four days each week (36%), "infrequent" users who wore fragrance in the last six months but not during the past week (3%), and "non-users" who have not worn any fragrance in the past six months (11%).

In sum, overall usage of aftershave and cologne is extremely high, with nine out of ten (89%) men qualifying as users.

Brand loyalty

Fragrance brand loyalty is not high. Sixty percent (60%) of all fragrance users started using their current "favorite" brand within the last three years. Nearly half have tried a new brand within the last year. Most impressively, over one-fourth (28%) of all fragrance purchasers bought a new brand the last time they made a fragrance purchase. These data indicate that the men's fragrance market is "fluid," especially among men who are the heaviest users.

Seasonality

A growing number of women's fragrances are sold on the basis of being seasonally appropriate. This phenomenon has not reached the men's market, for only four percent (4%) of the men change their brand of cologne or aftershave from "season to season."

Storage

The majority of fragrance users (58%) store their fragrances out in the open at home where they are easily seen. Heavy/extra-heavy users (64%) do so more than infrequent/light users (50%). The most popular locations for fragrance storage are in a bathroom medicine chest or cabinet (56%), on a bathroom shelf (48%) or vanity (43%), and on the top of a dresser (43%).

Few men keep aftershave or cologne in their car (15%) or workplace (9%). Those who do are much more likely to be heavy or extra-heavy users. In short, there is a correlation between visibility and usability.

Application

In general, men apply aftershave or cologne a maximum of only once per day. Only a fourth (27%) apply fragrance more often. The low number of applications per day may be due, to a great extent, to the perceive lasting power of cologne. Many believe that cologne fragrance lasts a long time- averaging six hours.

Not unexpectedly, the face and neck are the two most common places for applying aftershave and cologne. What is surprising is the wide variety of other places where men apply fragrance- not only on the body, but even on clothing.

Body
Face 88%
Neck 84%
Chest 50%
Behind ears 26%
Arms 25%
Wrists 21%
Shoulders 18%
Underarms 11%
Legs/knees 5%

Clothing
Shirt 31%
Suit coat 19%

Wearing aftershave or cologne at work is critical to "heavy usage." Men who do not wear fragrance at work are unlikely to use men's fragrances more than four times per week. Few nonusers believe it is desirable for men to wear aftershave or cologne at work, while most heavy users are clearly in favor of at-work usage.

The key issue

Numerous issues were chosen for exploration in this research, but one was central to the study's sponsors, justifying their efforts. The assumption of many marketers in selling men's fragrance has been that the primary purchasers of aftershave and cologne are women buying for men. The key objective of this research, from the sponsors' perspective, was to determine if this premise was correct. Syndicated research sources were able to say how much men's fragrance was purchased, but were unable to answer this central question-who is buying?

The sponsors were interested in this topic because the industry's premise had important consequences for their business. If women are the primary purchasers, then the media targeted for advertising should appeal primarily to women. However, if both men and women are buying men's fragrance, then it would behoove manufacturers to place advertising in dual-audience media such as news magazines.

Who buys men's fragrances?

The answer to the key issue is that three-fourths (73%) of all men are fragrance buyers, having personally purchased one or more bottles of aftershave or cologne in the past year. Two-thirds (66%) bought it for their own use and over a third (36%) bought it as a gift. The average number of bottles men bought in the last twelve months was 4.5.

Conceptually, three fragrance purchase levels emerged from this research. "Heavy purchasers" are those who bought five or more bottles of aftershave or cologne for themselves or as a gift in the last year. They represent over a third (37%) of all respondents. "Light" purchasers, representing over a third of the respondents (36%), bought one to four bottles of men's fragrance for themselves or as a gift within the past year. "Non-purchasers" are those who had not made either an aftershave or cologne purchase within the past year for any reason. They represent a quarter (27%) of the respondents.

Buyers spent almost twice as much on cologne as they spent on aftershave. Men spent an average of $21 on the last bottle of cologne they bought, and nearly $12 on the last bottle of aftershave.

Because the study design did not include a parallel sample of women, we are unable to draw definitive conclusions on the role of women in the purchase of men's fragrance. However, a basic industry premise-that women do play a role in the purchase of men's fragrance-was confirmed by the research. Half (48%) of the men said their wife or girlfriend had purchased aftershave or cologne for them during the past year. Close to half of this group (22%) said the women purchased the fragrance based on the man's preference. The other half of this group (26%) said the woman selected a brand of her own choice.

The flip side of these data is that half (52%) of the men have no women involved in the purchase of their fragrances, indicating that the preponderance of men's fragrance purchase is by men.

Nearly all men (94%) report they have at least one bottle of aftershave or cologne in their household, and three-fourths report three or more bottles. The median number of bottles available per household is four.

Recognizing that some women do buy fragrance for men, that many women influence purchases men make, and that women are a critical factor driving the men's purchase and usage, these new data indicate that the strategy for successfully appealing to fragrance buyers now requires a dual-audience approach.

Purchase motivations

A variety of factors explain why men use fragrance. The three most important are: the pleasure derived from the scent itself (78% said this is "very important"); the wife/girlfriend says she likes the smell (63%); and fragrance makes the men feel better groomed (57%). Seven other factors motivating fragrance usage were mentioned by at least a third of the users as very important: it makes you feel good, it makes you feel cleaner, you get compliments when you wear it, it refreshes you, it is a habit with you, it makes you feel fully dressed, and it makes you more attractive to women.

While pleasing women is an extremely important motive in the purchase and usage of men's fragrance, it is important to recognize the variety of other factors that contribute to the success of this market.

Introducing a new concept: The Killer Cologne

During the qualitative phase of this project, the participants discussed "levels" of men's fragrance. Some aftershaves and colognes were categorized as being extra special-chosen for wear when a man wanted to be particularly attractive to women. One man called his special fragrance "a killer cologne:"

"I have a regular cologne and then a high-catch cologne...a killer cologne!"

Other men agreed with this sentiment, saying they too have special fragrances for use on special occasions:

"I have two types-the real quality stuff I'll hang on to for a first date or a special occasion as opposed to the regular stuff that my girlfriend already knows about-why waste it?"

"I have the regular stuff for going to work and then you got the stuff you want for a hot date."

"I use one particular scent in the morning. When I'm going out to a special social setting, like a dinner with a couple or other couples, I'll wear something else. But if I'm going out to a bar, maybe trying to get into a little trouble, then I'll wear the (brand)!"

One-fifth (21%) of the respondents indicated they have a cologne they consider a "killer"-a brand that is extra special for wearing when they want to be particularly attractive to women.

Marketing implications

The survey results are rich in suggestions for marketing opportunities through which the men's fragrance industry can increase sales.

First, promotional efforts should be directed to both men and women. Prior emphasis on women seems to have minimized the men's role in this market. One limitation of these data is that women's perspectives on the issues examined in this research were not explored. Nonetheless, the results are so clear that fragrance marketers now have convincing information for directing more efforts toward men. In effect, a dual-audience orientation in which both men and women are encouraged to buy men's fragrance would appear to be most appropriate.

Second, recognizing there are different levels of usage, ranging from extra-heavy (seven days per week) to infrequent (in the last six months), it may be desirable to position different fragrances to different user levels.

Third, "killer cologne" users are a particularly interesting market segment. Their identification argues for promoting specific fragrances to individual market segments, a key group being men who desire a cologne as an aid in appearing particularly attractive to women. Romance, sexiness and seductiveness are certainly themes that may be persuasive in positioning a cologne as a "killer."

Fourth, expanding on situational significance, some fragrances may be targeted as particularly appropriate for different settings and locations. For example, a fragrance pitched to the workplace can be explicitly different from one oriented to evening home use or outside social events.

Fifth, seasonal fragrance usage now appears to be an accepted option within the women's market, while being a virtual non-option among men. Some brands may be positioned as most appropriate for different seasons, with emphasis particularly on warm or cool themes.

Sixth, storage location may be equated with usage. If men are encouraged to store their fragrance in more locations, greater sales may result. Two locations which are prime examples of additional storage sites are cars (e.g., glove compartments) and offices (e.g., desk drawers).

Seventh, traditionalists might argue that fragrance belongs only on the face and neck. Yet this survey documents that many men already apply fragrance in a variety of other locations. To the extent these less traditional locations are promoted as socially appropriate sites for placing fragrance, that could encourage additional fragrance usage.

Eighth, given that cologne costs significantly more than aftershave, even though many men are unable to distinguish between the two, it might behoove the industry to promote the distinctiveness of cologne in order to increase its usage and, correlatively, profits.