Dove
Packaging Market Research
The
Need for Market Research?
The soap and detergent industry was
a 97 billion dollar industry in 2016, which economist’s project to maintain
annual growth through the year 2025. Certain socioeconomic factors will promote
market growth like population increase, income increases, and continued advancements
in less-developed countries. New and innovative products will drive the market
(Grand View Research, 2018). The soap and body care market is competitive and
has a high chance of consumer disloyalty, as 46 percent of consumers are apt to
brand-switching and trying new products (The Nielsen Company, 2019). To remain
a competitor in the market, companies must decide which products to sell, what
marketing message to deliver, market segmentation, and means of delivery.
Businesses must make numerous decisions (Burns & Bush, 2012). As the Dove
brand ages into this competitive market, the packaging may appear old and
outdated. For answers, marketers look to Dove’s customer-base since consumers
help define a company’s brand identity (Mininni, 2010). Is there a need to for
packaging that is innovative and fresh? Or does Dove’s consumers value the
familiarity of its current packaging. Marketing research can evaluate consumer
values, explore current trends, and supply Dove with the accurate information
to make knowledgeable decisions.
Dove’s Marketing Problem
Dove sells lotion, body wash,
deodorant, and hair care products under Unilever. Before Dove launched the
“Campaign for Real Beauty”, the company hired Edelman to conduct a survey to
understand women’s’ concerns and attitudes towards beauty and advertising
(Skene, 2014). Dove polled 3000 women
across ten different countries to learn about women’s interests. This research
ignited the “Dove Campaign for Real Beauty” which has won several awards. The
first advertisement had over 35 million YouTube views within the first 2 weeks.
In these campaigns, Dove features ordinary women over models, or purposefully
demonstrates how photo-shopping is commonly used in beauty advertisements to
correct flaws (Bogost, 2017). The first advertisement had over 35 million
YouTube views within the first 2 weeks (Aacker, 2017). In breaking gender
stereotypes, Dove gained a brand-identity synonymous with body positivity. By
2014, Dove saw a sales increase from two-and-a-half billion dollars to four
billion dollars (Skene, 2014).
In line with its body positivity
campaign, Dove updated the body wash packaging. Dove wanted to encourage women
to embrace and appreciate their differences, but the majority of their
consumers already do. The Dove Beauty and Confidence Report on Dove’s website
shows that 7 out of 10 girls believe that society places too much importance on
the idea of beauty. Eighty-two percent of women globally believe that every
person has a trait that is beautiful (Unilever.com, n.d.). This information
explains why Dove’s consumers may not welcome personified bottle shapes
focusing on a woman’s appearance. Many consumers felt confused, while others
were offended. Social media reactions ranged from humor to appall (Calfas,
2017). Consumers questioned if the different shapes contained the same amount
of product. The packaging was not well-received and unfortunately Twitter and
the media’s coverage of the reaction added negative attention.
Some marketers consider a product’s
packaging as the product in the Four Marketing P’s. Others marketers define the
packaging as a fifth component in the marketing mix (Agariya, Johari, Sharma,
Chandraul, & Singh, 2012). However, regardless the definition, both acknowledge
the importance of packaging. For a company with a strong brand identity, the
packaging often becomes synonymous with that identity for the consumers
(Agariya, Johari, Sharma, Chandraul, & Singh, 2012). Should the company
update the packaging? Are there certain elements that should remain unchanged?
What do the consumers want?
Research Objectives
The research objectives are to help
Dove create the right packaging suitable for its marketing strategy, so it can
deliver a product the consumer needs and wants. First, primary research will
provide insight into the current values of consumers to determine if a
packaging change is necessary or needed. Next, analyzing the data will detect
possible market segmentation and explore different values within those groups.
And lastly, secondary research will explore current social values around
alternative materials to determine how advantageous it is for the company to
change not only the shape of the bottles, but the material itself.
Research Design
The market research report uses
exploratory and descriptive research techniques. Exploratory
research allows marketers to gain an understanding of the body wash market,
locate problems that the company may face, and generate hypotheses (Burns &
Bush, 2012). Exploratory research can pinpoint the growth and trends of a Dove
within the market. Descriptive research provides answers on who consumers are
and their current values.
Information Types and Sources
There are many advantages to using
external secondary research. Secondary research is widely-available, obtained
quickly, cost effective, and sometimes answer a question without a need for
additional research (Burns & Bush, 2012). Even If an external secondary
source does not provide a direct answer, it can add helpful cultural and social
insight. Publicly available research may provide deeper insight into consumers’
emotional choices. To help Dove decide if the packaging should contain an
alternative to plastic, the research includes one secondary source that provides
insight into consumer readiness to purchase green products.
Social media is valuable secondary
source that provides insight on how well consumers might receive a product
change and current social challenges and concerns. Dove can look at the social
response to the previous commercials by analyzing comments on the company’s
YouTube channel. Within these comments the company will understand the overall
feelings of consumers who engage with the ads. In one study geared towards
machine analyzation of quantifying comment responses, reports that the majority
of the comments were praise or statements pertaining to the definition of
beauty. Skepticism found in the comments measured around 11 percent (Feng,
Chen, & He, 2019). While this particular study’s purpose is how to machine
process large amounts of social media data effectively, the results reflect the
general attitudes towards the ad campaigns. While the praise and positive
comments are important, the negative comments may provide valuable information
to apply for a new product design.
Proprietary information is
confidential information that is available to a select group of employees on a
need-to-know basis. To keep the information secure, companies may have
employees privy to this data sign legal contracts such as non-disclosure or
confidentiality agreements Proprietary information may include marketing plans,
trade secrets, contracts, or recipes (Langoria-Chafkin, n.d.). While
researchers do not have access to this sensitive data, a secondary analysis of
the Dove brand portfolio provides valuable information on the overall health
and direction of the company.
Original in-house research is
catered to the company and its goals. In-house research allows a company to
select specific data and interpret the results for their research needs. If
thorough research is necessary for answers, in-house research can take longer
than using public research. Research expenses will increase according to the
research needed. In-house research is useful when available public data is
outdated, or measurements and variables are not specific enough for the
required research. If a company does not find answers in external research,
then a company can create an in-house, primary research plan including interviews,
observations, focus groups, and surveys to obtain answers (PollenStrategy,
2012). The research report includes an in-house online packaging survey
featuring several Dove body wash bottle types.
Methods of Accessing Data
Per Burns’ & Bush’s advice, the bottle
packaging survey is brief and clear and the questions are clear and simple
(2012). Online participants will chose they’re preferred body wash packaging
out of four provided options. Then the participant selects the age range and
gender they identify with. Researchers posted the survey publically on Twitter
and Facebook with the possibility of resharing. There is no additional place
for comments and all three questions require an answer to complete.
Data Collection
To understand if consumers prefer
the original Dove body wash packaging or three other “Body Beauty’ bottles, a
brief online survey was shared publically on Twitter and Facebook. The survey
was reshared an additional eight times. The survey collected 165 usable
surveys. Seventeen percent of the sample is male, seventy-nine percent female,
and three percent identified as non-binary, or chose to not report. Age group options for the survey are: under
12, 12 to 17, 18 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 to 64, 65 to 74, and
74 or older. Time and money are major limitations in the study. The survey may
contain bias as it was posted online and only placed on two social media
outlets. The demographics for the population who uses the two means of social
media is unknown.
Sample Size and Limitations
The sample size is small due to time
constraints. The survey was simplified to obtain a larger response quickly, but
could have been more thorough and asked other socioeconomic questions. The male
and female reporting percentages were tested for an accurate population
measure, and the male data is significantly different from the female sample.
To well-represent the population a larger sample of males and a larger sample
in general are needed. The XL analyst test showed for a 95% confidence interval
with a 5% error rate, the necessary sample should be 384 (Table 4). The survey
sample is only 165. However, the confidence interval for 95% of the population percentage
is 48 +/- 7.6, or between 40.4 to 55.6.
Data Analysis
Most age and gender groups chose the
original package C, besides 18 to 24 year-olds, 55 to 64 year-olds, and
non-binary, or other (chose not to report) (Table 1). On the survey (Table 2), package C is the
original packaging for Dove body wash, while A, B. and D are three of the six
bottle options from the “Real Beauty” line. While 48.2 percent of the entire
sample chose C (Table 3). According to the survey data, many consumers still
prefer the original packaging shape.
Should Packaging Go “Green”?
Even if the shape of the bottle
remains unchanged, there are other alternatives to consider. For instance,
green products are gaining momentum in every market. Many consumers are aware
of environmentally-friendly products, so researchers conducted a survey to
determine if awareness correlates to intent to purchase (Arli, Tan, Tjiptono,
& Yang, 2018). Researchers collected 916 surveys from universities,
shopping malls, and houses in Yogyakarta, Indonesia because Indonesia is the 17th
largest economy. Male respondents were 48%, and females were 52%. The focus age
group of the survey ranged from 18 to 26 years old. Researchers tested the
validity and reliability using the goodness of fit test, and variance extracted
(AVE) indexes. The results of the test show that, “Attitude towards green
products significantly influences consumers’ readiness to be green on purchase
intention” (Aril, Tan, Tipton, & Yang, 2018p. 395). This is reported with a
90 percent confidence interval. Research also concludes that consumers who have
purchased environmentally-friendly products once are likely to do so in the
future (Aril, Tan, Tipton, & Yang, 2018).
Conclusion
From the brand portfolio analysis,
the Dove brand sales increased from 200 million dollars in the 1990s to over
three billion dollars by 2011 (Aaker, 2017). This is notable growth considering
the highly competitive market. This growth is due to global expansion, product
extension, and product innovation. Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty’ largely
contributed to the company’s success as the campaign addressed current social
issues, redefined the brand, and
strengthened its relationships with consumers. These Dove extensions were successful because the
product delivered an innovative, need to the consumer (Aaker, 2017). According to the
collected data, it may be time for further innovation & extensions. One
survey conducted by Kantar found that brands that are gender-balanced have a
higher brand value at 20.6 billion dollars compared to 16.1 billion for
female-targeted products and 11.5 billion for brands geared to men (2019). Dove’s
campaign for beauty was extremely successful, but changing the bottle shape is
not as important as the message. Perhaps it is time for Dove to appeal to
consumer with a similar campaign for the environment. Since the current packaging
is plastic, maybe it is time for Dove to release a unisex, environmentally
friendly bottle as an innovative extension. This research provides some insight
into consumer values and trends, and Dove may apply this to its packaging
decisions, but additional research is recommended.
References
Aacker, D. (2017, June 13). What we
can learn from Dove’s brand portfolio growth. Prophet. Retrieved from https://www.prophet.com/2017/06 https://www.prophet.com/2017/06/doves-brand-portfolio-growth//doves-brand-portfolio-growth/
Agariya, A, Johari, A., Sharma, H.,
Chandraul, U., & Singh, D. (2012). The role of packaging in brand
communication. International Journal of
Scientific & Engineering Research, 3(2).
Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/2301382/The_Role_of_Packaging_in_Brand_Communication
Arli, D., Tan, L., Tjiptono, F., &Yang, L. (2018). Exploring
consumers’ purchase intention towards green products in an emerging market: The
role of consumers’ perceived readiness. International
Journal of Consumer Studies, 42(4),
389-401. DOI: 10.1111/ijcs.12432
Bogost, I. (2017, May 9). How Dove
ruined its body image. The Atlantic.
Retrieved from
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/05/dove-body-image/525867/
Burns, A. C. & Bush, R. F.
(2012). Basic marketing research using Microsoft Excel data analysis (3rd ed.).
Retrieved from https://redshelf.com
Calfas, J. (2017, May 8). People are
confused about Dove’s new body wash bottles. Fortune. Retrieved from https://fortune.com/2017/05/08/dove-body-wash-bottles/
Feng, Y., Chen, H. & He, L.
(2019). Consumer responses to femvertising: A data-mining case of Dove’s
“campaign for real beauty” on YouTube. Journal
of Advertising, (3). Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu
Grand View Research. (2018). Soap
and detergent market size, share & trends analysis report by product,
competitive landscape, and segment forecasts, 2018 – 2025. Retrieved from https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/soap-detergent-market
Kantar. (2019, January 29).
Advertising industry complacency is letting brands and women down. Retrieved
from
https://www.kantar.com/company-news/Advertising-industry-complacency-is-letting-brands-and-women-down
Langorio-Chafkin, C. (n.d.).
Proprietary information. Inc..
Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/proprietary-information.html
Mininni, T. (2010, April 30). The
rewards and risks of packaging design. Packaging
Digest. Retrieved from https://www.packagingdigest.com/packaging-design/rewards-and-risks-packaging-redesign
PollenStrategy [Screen name]. (2012,
September 3). In house market research. Slideshare.net.
Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/PollenStrategy/inhouse-market-research
Skene, K. (2014, April 11). A PR
case study: Dove real beauty campaign. News
Generation. Retrieved from https://newsgeneration.com/2014/04/11/pr-case-study-dove-real-beauty/
The Nielsen Company. (2019, August
7). Global ad spending is up, but you can’t buy loyalty in CPG. Retrieved from https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2019/global-ad-spending-is-up-but-you-cant-buy-loyalty-in-cpg/
Unilever.com. (n.d.). Girls and
beauty confidence: The global report. Retrieved from https://www.unilever.com/Images/dove-girls-beauty-confidence-report-infographic_tcm244-511240_en.pdf
Appendices
Table 1: Bottle Survey Data
|
|||||
n=
165
|
Frequency
|
Percentage
of sample
|
Product
Selection
|
Percentage
|
|
Age
|
|||||
under 12
|
5
|
3.00%
|
C
|
40%
|
|
12 to 17
|
9
|
5.00%
|
C
|
44%
|
|
18 to 24
|
7
|
4%
|
D
|
43%
|
|
25 to 34
|
31
|
19%
|
C
|
58%
|
|
35 to 44
|
91
|
55%
|
C
|
49%
|
|
45 to 54
|
10
|
6%
|
C
|
60%
|
|
55 to 64
|
8
|
5%
|
B
|
43%
|
|
65 to 74
|
4
|
2%
|
C &
D
|
50%
|
|
74 +
|
0
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
Gender
|
|||||
Male
|
29
|
17%
|
C
|
55%
|
|
Female
|
131
|
79%
|
C
|
48%
|
|
non-binary
|
2
|
1%
|
B
|
100%
|
|
Other
|
3
|
1%
|
D
|
66%
|
|
Table
2
|
Table
3
|
Table
4
|
|||
Sample
Size Calculations
|
|||
Sample Size Table
|
|||
Sample Size
|
|||
Allowable Error
|
Estimated "p"
|
95% Confidence
|
99% Confidence
|
5.0%
|
50.0%
|
384
|
666
|
Sensitivity - Alternative allowable error values
|
|||
Sample Size
|
|||
Allowable Error
|
Estimated "p"
|
95% Confidence
|
99% Confidence
|
4.0%
|
50.0%
|
600
|
1040
|
4.5%
|
50.0%
|
474
|
822
|
5.0%
|
50.0%
|
384
|
666
|
5.5%
|
50.0%
|
317
|
550
|
6.0%
|
50.0%
|
267
|
462
|
Sensitivity - Alternative levels of p
|
|||
Sample Size
|
|||
Allowable Error
|
Estimated "p"
|
95% Confidence
|
99% Confidence
|
5.0%
|
40.0%
|
369
|
639
|
5.0%
|
45.0%
|
380
|
659
|
5.0%
|
50.0%
|
384
|
666
|
5.0%
|
55.0%
|
380
|
659
|
5.0%
|
60.0%
|
369
|
639
|
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