Experimentation and Product Trial at Lipstick Displays

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Experimentation and Product Trial at Lipstick Displays

Team Mini-Project Report

BU.420.710.83.FA16

Team 10

Team member

Jianglingzi Wang

Jiaxin Wu

Xinjingyi Zhang

Xuan Shi

Yahan Chen

Executive Summary

This paper investigates consumer’s product trial behavior at lipstick displays. Since most female customers try lipsticks either on their arms or on their lips before they make purchase decision, lipstick trial experience can exert an important effect on customer’s willingness to buy the lipsticks. Our observation cover the whole lipstick trial process, including exploring, selecting and trying the lipsticks. According to the observation, most customers were concerned about trying lipsticks on their lips and preferred to try lipsticks on arms first. The concern is about the sanitary condition of the lipstick samples and the uncomfortable try-on-lip experience.  Besides, it was found that customer’s interaction with other people, such as friends, salesperson, was also an important factor that will influence the lipstick trial experience. What’s more, different retail formats witness a different product trial behavior. Based on the model of customer processing product trial, the model of consumer trust in retail store service setting, and several other theories, some strategies are provided to change customer’s attitude. It is recommended that lipsticks samples with higher sanitary condition and more considerate service should be provided for customers to improve their product trial experience. In addition, cosmetics store can utilize the impact of companion to launch related promotion to raise the sales of the lipsticks. Different retail formats should adopt different strategies to engage customer. The store with high customer flow should also come up with tactics to help eliminate the negative effects brought by crowded environment.  

1. Introduction of Phenomenon

We observed female customers’ behavior of trying lipsticks during the lipstick purchasing process. Lipstick trial process serves as an important role in trigging the final puechase decision. Most female customers tend to try the lipstick first to see if the shadow fits them before making the purchase decision. However, the sample lipsticks may have been tried out for thousands of times and seem not that clean. Though some customers are still willing to directly try the sample lipsticks on lips, many others are reluctant to try the lipsticks out of sanitary consideration. They may either try the lipsticks on their arms instead of lips or just give up and walk away. No matter in what condition, the behavior of trying lipsticks will exert an effect on customer’s purchase decision and ultimately influence the sales of lipsticks. Thus, we want to observe female customers’ behavior of exploring, selecting and trying lipsticks in physical cosmetic stores and analyze their attitudes towards product trial experience.

1. Literature Review

O'guinn, Tanner and Maeng conducted research on the relationship between social density and the willingness to pay real money. Their research shows that consumers tend to associate higher product valuation with more social space. The high-density context may lead to consumer’s association with stressful environment and trigger unpleasant emotions, which may be diverted to the products. Therefore, consumers are less willing to pay for the products if they shop under crowded circumstances.

Paolo.Guenzi developed “a comprehensive model of customer trust in a retail service setting” (see Exhibit 1). In this model, Guenzi developed three drives to build consumers’ trust in retail stores: trust in the salesperson, trust in store trust in store branded products. Marketers can build customers trust through these three methods.

According to a study assessing women’s involvement with cosmetics, importance-interest, sign-symbolic-social, subjective risk and risk importance play an essential role in determining the level of involvement. This study also illustrated that quasi-causal relationship existed between antecedent involvement and consequent involvement.

Robert B. Cialdini has put forward six basic principles that people can use for persuasion, including liking, reciprocity, scarcity, social proof, consistency, authority. Reciprocity is an efficient method to persuade consumers to change their attitudes. Reciprocity means people would like to repay who is kind for them by treating same thing back. Using this theory could influence consumers’ mood in order to change their attitude. Besides, social proof principle refers to the belief that people tend to follow the similar trend and peers power can be a effective way to influence consumers’ attitude.

Sunday O. E. Ewah and Atim E. Esang developed a model for the consumer’s processing of product trial (see Exhibit 2). This model comprises several concepts (factors) that are interlaced to make an impact on the formation of the consumers’ attitudes towards the brand (AB) through product trial. The experiential and non-experiential attributes are the direct and indirect stimulus involved in the trial process, with experiential attributes like the color, moistening, package of lipsticks, etc. For the experiential attributes, perceived validity of product trial can be one of the factors determining whether the product trial is diagnostic. Then, the diagnosticy will influence the evaluative/expected value from the experiential attributes, and finally these attributes affect the overall evaluation of the brand performance. Basically, this model is designed to help marketer make effort to increase the consumers’ evaluation of the trial experience so that they can further analyze the consumers’ whole evaluation of the product and brand.

Xu-Priour, D., and Cliquet, G examined whether in-store shopping experience affects cosmetic shoppers ‘attitudes in different countries. The factors that influence shopping experience include social aspects of retail environment, service quality, browsing, bargain hunting, brand experience and social interaction. To get more information, researchers conducted questionnaires. They find the results that shopping with friends can bring enjoyment and good brand experiences can promote the purchase intention. Also, social interaction can influence the customers’ enjoyable perception of shopping experience and the following decision-making.