THE CONSUMER JOURNEY,
CATEGORY: HAIR
How a woman’s quest for the perfect bottle of shampoo reveals new
opportunities for digital marketers
The proliferation of digital channels is reshaping the way consumers make
decisions. They take more time, complete more research, and travel through more
points of influence than ever before.
In our “New Shopper Journeys” research revealed that the traditional
purchase path is no longer linear. Different touch points can
influence specific parts of the journey. Our latest research offers
insights on how brands can build specific emotional connections along
the purchase path—insights that can help inspire more effective creative
messaging that maps directly to channel strategies.
A Woman’s Shopping Path
The shopping path has five stages: Pre-Trigger, Trigger, Pre-Shopping, In-Store and Usage.
During the Pre-Trigger stage, women are dissatisfied their hair care product. That sets up the
Trigger stage where they begin to take control of those negative feelings. Women want to
reduce risk and increase confidence in the Pre-Shopping stage, but the fact that they don’t
have an answer for their dissatisfaction brings the negative emotions back. During the
In-Store phase, women feel overwhelmed by shelf after shelf of shampoo brands. Finally, they
purchase a product and enter the Usage stage, where they decide if the shampoo works and
if others notice the difference—and then the cycle starts all over again.
What Women Want
Without a clear understanding of the emotional or functional drivers at each stage of the
shopping path, it’s nearly impossible to know where to advertise and what tone the messages
should take. In order to determine how women are thinking and sharing hair care concerns,
we used social listening technology to mine conversations on sites like Twitter, Facebook,
MSN and Yahoo. Here’s what we learned: Women experience a slow and steady build up of
dissatisfaction before making a change. Once they decide to change hair care products, they
find themselves on a quest for trustworthy advice before they face the dreaded product shelf.
Pinpointing Women’s Needs
There is a clear opportunity to apply our research to marketing women’s hair products. For example, we know that women
experience a continual cycle of dissatisfaction, inspiration and validation when it comes to hair care products. Yet making
a change is an emotionally charged decision influenced by media channels across multiple devices, as well as friends,
family and social networks. What forces cause women to consider a change? And how are they validating their decision?
Answering these questions means uncovering women’s needs—and that requires understanding their behavior and emotions
along the shopping path. Below we’ve outlined the specific behaviors, emotions and needs of women at each stage.
1.Pre-Trigger
2.Trigger
Once upon a time, our shampoo-seeker
wasn’t even aware she wanted to make a
change. But everyday life offers hints that her
hair is not perfect. Health and beauty sites,
magazines, celebrities and TV ads play a part, but so does
seeing friends on social networks or in person. Negative
emotions like “struggle,” “angry,” “clueless,” and “envy”
build up. One of the biggest forces is her own mother! All
this causes a slow build up of dissatisfaction and drives her
to find a better solution. Celebrities and before-and-after
pictures can inspire change.
Our shampoo-seeker has discovered she can
do something about the way she feels about
her hair, but she isn’t quite ready to take action
because she doesn’t have the key piece of
advice or reassurance she needs. At this stage, she is still
passively awaiting the final piece of the puzzle. Her emotions
are positive, but she still has enough doubt not to make a
purchase. She needs more confidence. Friends and
her hairdresser play critical roles at this stage. Coupons and
samples reduce the risk of switching hair care products.
3.Pre-Shopping
4.In-Store
5.Usage
At this stage, our
shampoo-seeker has
decided on a product,
but usually she is looking
for more evidence that her decision.
She may also be looking to reduce her
risk through samples, coupons and
discounts. She uses her PC and mobile
phone to search for information. Once
again, her emotions swing to anger
and struggle as she tries to sift through
a wide variety of options. Give her
details at this stage and she’ll continue
to explore and gather information to
make an informed decision.
When she enters the store,
our shampoo-seeker faces
the dreaded shelf—a
place where marketers
only have so much control. Unless she
has her mind firmly made up, she is
still narrowing down her choices—and
she’s completely on her own. Coupons
and deals can encourage a purchase,
as well as key words such as “frizzy,”
“dry,” or “volume.” Her emotions can
be positive or negative, depending
on how fixed she is on a brand. In the
absence of any other cues, the decision
can often come down to something
as simple as which bottle has the nicest
scent.
Women can sometimes
decide after a single use
if they are happy with
shampoo by looking
into the mirror. If the product works,
women feel happy and empowered,
even relieved. If they product doesn’t
work, women feel they wasted money
and have to repeat this difficult
shopping process. What others
think also matters. If her inner circle
compliments her, she remains satisfied
with the product. But eventually
she’ll seek more validation through
magazines, celebrity sites and TV ads
and shows—the sources that triggered
her dissatisfaction in the first place.
That starts the entire cycle again.
How to Reach Women
Our research offers four key takeaways for hair care product marketers: Influence women at critical points in the
“decision making journey; inspire and show her the possibilities and provide information to drive confidence, reduce
risk with samples and coupons, and deliver on your promise.
In order to influence women along the shopping path, shampoo marketers need to reach them at critical points in
the decision-making journey. That means using the right device or channel to deliver inspirational or informational
messages that respond to her emotional or functional need at each stage in the journey.
Marketers can drive change in a habitual category. If emotional needs drive the decision phase, inspire and show her
the possibilities. If functional needs drive the decision phase, provide information and help build confidence.
Marketers can influence the decision before she gets to the shelf. The earlier in the journey you can drive a decision,
the lower the risk of generating confusion via information overload (too many options). Focus on affirming the right
choice and reducing risk of the wrong choice through coupons and samples.
Marketers need to reinforce the decision. That means products must deliver against promise. Use channels to provide
external validation of choice, emphasizing the positive.
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