Experience PMR

Free Article - Research PMR Cosmetics evolved into daily necessities similar to food items


Back to List Of Free Articles - Research PMR

Cosmetics have become less of a luxury and more of daily necessities similar to food products. Buying cosmetics ceased to be a typical female activity. Men increasingly buy facial and body care products.

Research studies conducted by PMR show that cosmetics have evolved into the category of commonly purchased items and they have practically become daily necessities similar to food. A staggering 87% of adult Polish population reported that they bought cosmetic products.

The high proportion of the female population (92%) admitting to buying cosmetics should hardly come as a surprise. But this trend becomes widespread is also confirmed by an equally high proportion of men buying cosmetics (82%). Cosmetics are no longer considered a luxury product rarely by shoppers. What’s more, buying cosmetics ceased to be a typically female activity since men buy them as willingly as women do. Of course, the cosmetics basket features a diverse range of products such as personal hygiene items, facial, hair and body care products, makeup items, etc. The frequency with which buyers choose the individual products is varied too. What’s more, a single product category, such as facial care items, includes products from all price ranges from luxury to economy class. 


Source: Research PMR, N=994
 

Nevertheless, the fact that cosmetics are products that are commonly purchased by men and women is evidence of changes which consumer behaviour patterns of Poles have undergone over the recent years. A vast majority of Polish consumers consider cosmetics as commonplace items that they use on a daily basis. However, unsurprisingly, not all products classified as cosmetics are in common use.

As is well known, there are categories of gender-specific cosmetics. For instance, 60% of women buy makeup products, but there are no men purchasing these items. Male specific cosmetics (e.g. after-shave lotions) are purchased by 81% male shoppers. However, the data in the chart below also shows that males are interested in a much larger range of products. For instance, personal care products are bought by 69% of women and a steep 58% of men. Just under one-quarter of male shoppers said that they bought facial care cosmetics. Somewhat less surprising is that nearly 80% of women gave this response. In addition, it should be noted that 20% of men buy body care products for personal use and 14% of male shoppers choose hair care products.




Source: Research PMR, N=994

The data presented above demonstrates that cosmetics have ceased to be the domain of women. Men increasingly use these products, and they use them not only for typically male uses, such as shaving. Cosmetics designed specifically for men is one of the potential directions for the growth of the cosmetics industry in the future.

Respondents were also asked to specify the places where they shop for specific types of cosmetics. As expected, health and beauty chains and small drugstores are the most popular choices. This is from where Poles supply facial and hair care products and perfumes.
 

Source: Research PMR, N=866


It is not only that men increasingly buy cosmetic products which until recently have been associated with typically female products, such as facial care cosmetics, they also share with women the preference for the types of promotion of these products. The type of promotion that Polish consumers find the most appealing is “get two for the price of one”. A lower price is the next most popular factor. There are no differences between women and men in these respect.

Differences emerge for the type of promotion referred to as “additional volume” to which a higher preference is attached by men and the type of promotion designated as “a gift for the purchase” which appears to be favoured more by women than men. 
 



Source: Research PMR, N=722

 

The countrywide consumer survey was conducted by Research PMR in October on a representative sample of 1,000 adult Poles, with a maximum estimation error of 3%.
 

Back to List Of Free Articles - Research PMR