Consumer behavior perspective for fairness creams: A Case of

'fair & lovely'

the market for fairness creams around the globe was an untouched territory till mid- 1970s.
No cream was available which could claim an effect on the fairness of skin. The first product
for this market was Fair & Lovely (Fair & Lovely) by Hindustan Unilever Ltd (Hindustan
Unilever Ltd.:HUL) which was launched in India in 1975. It was a turning point for the
fairness cream business and several companies followed soon. Fair & Lovely didn't take
much time to become a household name with more and more women putting their trust in the
product for giving them the much needed fair skin they always desired. A product which
started as another addition to the product line, acquired the status of a super brand by 2004. It
became a part of the customer's persona. In a society where the general population is
genetically brown in skin color, yet has resentment to it; fair color of skin is an obsession and
is equated with beauty, happiness and success. This craze for fair skin is marketed
aggressively and a range of products are available in the market, which gratify the likes of
teenagers as well as grown women. The following case on the product Fair & Lovely gives a
background of the market for fairness creams in India and focuses on different aspects of
behavior of women as consumers of this product.

Fairness of skin objectively refers to a certain level of pigmentation of skin. But in the
culturally constructed world it is embedded with socially defined meaning. The pull for
developing skin fairness stems from culturally held meaning and its role in negotiation
of life roles and goals. Brand builders in the skin fairness market require cultivation of
a deeper knowledge of psycho-social significance of fairness. The premium attached to
fair skin is only a manifestation of some below the surface reality which must be
accessed and understood. Brands must appropriate meaning beyond product
functionality to develop higher order relevance for consumers. This study attempted to
explore the culturally defined meaning of fairness employing the critical incident
technique as method of inquiry. The socio-cultural conditioning in India places skin
fairness on a higher altar of desirability and even godliness. The desirability of fairness
stems from the hidden meaning. The study reveals fairness is both an end state itself
and also instrumental. It is a personally desirable state for being ‘perfect’, ‘Godly’ and
‘treasure’. At the same time it is coveted for its instrumentality in achieving the desired
end states of existence. The fairer people feel psychological ‘high’ by feeling ‘confident’,
‘attractive’, ‘admired’ and ‘envied’.

This article aims to investigate to what extent dating/cohabiting/married men and

women buy their partner different kinds of products and services related to appearance
(clothing, footwear, jewellery/watches, make-up, skin care products, hair care products,
perfumes/fragrances, hairdresser services and cosmetician services). A total of 685
Finns (344 men and 341 women) aged 15–64 years with a spouse or dating partner
completed a nationally representative mail survey. The findings indicate that the
proportion of women who buy their spouse/dating partner clothing, skin or hair care
products on a regular basis is considerable. Men who had purchased their spouse/dating
partner some of the surveyed products or services did so once or twice a year. Age, type
of relationship, income and respondent's personal buying frequency were associated
with the likelihood of buying spouse/dating partner different products related to
appearance. This trend was particularly prevalent among women. The findings suggest
that marketers and retailers of appearance-related products should pay more attention
to the role of women as purchasers of their husband's/partner's clothing and grooming
products, and the importance of age, type of relationship, income and respondent's
personal buying frequency in explaining this type of consumption.