Case 2.

Fragrances Are Sweet, But Competition Is Bitter

1. An initial review of secondary data should be undertaken to familiarize oneself with the
market. This would include a review of fragrance trade journals, like Soap-Cosmetics-
Chemical Specialties, popular fashion magazines like Glamour and Cosmopolitan and
local newspapers.
The Internet can be a valuable source of information for the fragrance market. One can
visit the Web sites of Avon, Revlon, Estee Lauder, Chanel, Cosmair, and other
competitors. One can also use the various search engines to locate other sites with
valuable information. Several of the Internet databases can be searched using appropriate
key words. Finally, one can visit newsgroups and chatgroups to collect more information.

The students should be encouraged to conduct a search and summarize the results in a
report.

2. Focus groups can be used to understand the issues that concern women when purchasing
fragrances and to get a feel for their preferences for scents and brands. Then, a survey of
women can be undertaken to determine their preferences for scents and uses of fragrances
to learn if there are untapped opportunities in the market place.

3. The following information should be obtained.

Attitudes—What is the overall attitude of women toward fragrances? What is their
attitude toward specific brands? Specific fragrances?

Preferences—Which brands do women prefer?

Purchase Intentions—Which brands do women plan to purchase in the next three

months? In which outlets do they plan to purchase them?
327
 Behaviors—What brands have women purchased in the past year? At which locations
have they purchased these? How often are fragrances used? On what occasions?

Motivations—Why do women purchase fragrances? To what images do women aspire?

What roles do women assume when they wear a fragrance?

Psychographics—What lifestyles characterize women? What are the psychographic

characterizations of women?

Demographics—What is the age, income, location, marital status and educational level
of women who wear fragrances?

4. Comparative scaling techniques, especially rank ordering, can be used to determine

preferences among brands so that small differences between stimulus objects can be
detected. However, because the data are nonmetric, the study will be limited in its
application.

Noncomparative scaling like the Likert scale can be used in place of comparative scales
to enable us to generalize beyond the brands considered in the survey. They can be used
to make comparisons between brands and to gather descriptions of the attributes of a
brand.

Either technique can be used depending on the particular information being sought in a
survey. In addition to theoretical considerations, practical factors like the capabilities of
the respondents, the characteristics of the stimulus objects, the method of administration,
the context of scale application and the cost of each technique should be considered.

5. Qualitative research can help uncover the underlying motives, values, attitudes, beliefs
and emotions that consumers attach to perfumes. Both focus groups and depth interviews
should be used. Focus groups may generate innovative and creative ideas. Depth
interviews may help discover underlying emotions and personal attachments to perfumes.

328
 The laddering technique will be the most useful for uncovering emotions because the line
of questioning proceeds from user characteristics to personal characteristics.

6. Attitudes:
Estee Lauder preferences are exciting.
Definitely Disagree Neutral Definitely Agree
1 2 3 4 5

Preferences:
Assign a 1 if a row brand is preferred to a column brand, 0 otherwise.
Complete only the lower triangle matrix.

Oscar de Estee
Passion Chanel la Renta Lauder
Passion | | | |
Chanel | | | |
O de la Renta | | | |
Estee Lauder | | | |

Alternatively, rank order the following brands in order of your preference by assigning a
rank 1 to the most preferred brand and a rank 4 to the least preferred brand.
Passion ______
Chanel ______
Oscar de la Renta ______
Estee Lauder ______

Intentions:
Definitely Will Might Definitely Will
Not Buy Buy Buy
1 2 3 4 5

Behaviors:
How often do you buy fragrances?
_____less than 1 time a month

329
 _____1 to 2 times a month
_____3 to 4 times a month
_____More than 4 times a month

Motivation:
What are the qualities you look for in a fragrance? Please check all that apply.
_____Scent that reflects who I am
_____Endorsement by a celebrity
_____Attractive bottle
_____Scent that reflects who I want to be
_____Other

Psychographics:
I am ...
Optimistic | | | | | | Pessimistic
Outgoing | | | | | | Introvert
Reflective | | | | | | Impetuous

Demographics:
What is your age?
_____less than 18
_____19–24
_____25–40
_____41–65
_____Older than 65

Lifestyles:
AIO inventories can be used to measure specific lifestyles. This information is interval.
Psychographics can be measured from VALS. This information is nominal.

7. The following changes were made to the original survey.

330
 (a) All demographic items are moved to the end of the survey since respondents
might get upset over these questions. Income categories are made mutually
exclusive.
(b) All multiple choice items are listed vertically one above the other.
(c) The choices for Q6 are standardized to the same time frame (a month).
(d) Instructions are added for Part II.
(e) The labels for the scales are listed above the scale numbers.
(f) Q8 and Q9 are made more specific by replacing the phrase I usually buy with I
buy all.
(g) Q11, Q13, and Q15 are made negative to prevent the respondent from answering
out of habit.
(h) The time frame for Q12 is changed to a quarter to be more realistic.
(i) Q17, Q18, and Q19 are changed from open-ended questions to multiple choice to
ensure uniformity of answers.
(j) Q20 is made into a forced choice, Yes-No, question to aid in data analysis and
then an open-ended follow-up is specified.

NEW FRAGRANCE SURVEY

Please fill out the following survey, answering the questions as accurately as possible.

PART I

1. How often do you go to the mall?

_____less than once a month
_____1 to 2 times a month
_____3 to 4 times a month
_____More than 4 times a month

2. If you shop at department stores, which one do you frequent the most?
_____Macy’s
_____J.C. Penney
_____Sears
_____Sak’s Fifth Avenue/Neiman-Marcus
_____Other

331
NEW FRAGRANCE SURVEY (CONTINUED)

PART II
Circle the number that corresponds to the extent you agree with each statement. Circle 1 if you strongly
disagree with the statement, 2 if you disagree, 3 if you don’t know your level of agreement, 4 if you agree
and, 5 if you strongly agree.

3. I buy all my fragrances in a department store.

Strongly Disagree Disagree Don’t Know Agree Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4 5

4. I buy all my fragrances in a drug store.

Strongly Disagree Disagree Don’t Know Agree Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4 5

5. I only buy one brand of fragrances.

Strongly Disagree Disagree Don’t Know Agree Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4 5

6. Department store fragrances are not worth the extra cost.

Strongly Disagree Disagree Don’t Know Agree Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4 5

7. Free gift packages are a definite incentive to buy a fragrance product.

Strongly Disagree Disagree Don’t Know Agree Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4 5

8. Celebrity endorsement of a fragrance does not give it more appeal.

Strongly Disagree Disagree Don’t Know Agree Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4 5

9. Fragrances endorsed by celebrities are higher in quality.

Strongly Disagree Disagree Don’t Know Agree Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4 5

10. I would not be interested in a new fragrance.

Strongly Disagree Disagree Don’t Know Agree Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4 5

11. I frequently try new fragrances.

Strongly Disagree Disagree Don’t Know Agree Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4 5

332
NEW FRAGRANCE SURVEY (CONTINUED)

PART III

12. How often do you buy fragrances?

_____less than once a quarter
_____1 to 2 times a quarter
_____3 to 4 times a quarter
_____More than 4 times a quarter

13. What is your favorite fragrance? Please check one.

_____Passion
_____Chanel
_____Oscar da la Renta
_____Estee Lauder
_____Other

14. What are the qualities you look for in a fragrance? Please check as many as apply.
_____Scent that reflects who I am
_____Endorsement by a celebrity
_____Attractive bottle
_____Scent that reflects who I want to be
_____Other

15. Are you happy with the fragrances currently on the market?
_____Yes
_____No

PART IV
16. What is your gender?
_____Male
_____Female

17. What age group are you in?

_____18–24
_____25–29
_____30–34
_____35–44
_____45 and over

333
18. What is your marital status?
_____Married
_____Single

19. If you have ever been married, how many children do you have?
_____None
_____One
_____Two
_____Three
_____Four or more

20. What category of income do you fit into?

_____0–$25,000
_____$25,001–$50,000
_____$50,001–$100,000
_____$100,001–$150,000
_____$150,001 and above

Thank you for your time. Your assistance will help us in better meeting your fragrance needs.

334