Older consumers are generally more brand loyal while millennials seek innovation
Particularly when it comes to fragrance, as they grow older, women remain loyal to their perfumes for a longer time, while younger women’s are more likely to ‘shop around’ for their scents.
This isn’t always an exact science, as certain young women are extremely faithful to one perfume, while there are older women who change perfumes regularly; but the sustained successes of older perfumes such as Chanel No.5 or Elizabeth Taylor show that there is a degree of brand loyalty.
According to Datamonitor Consumer’s Scent Preferences and Innovation Trends in Air Care report, the older consumers become, the more brand loyal they are.
“This can be attributed to consumer preferences and identifying what they like and what they don’t becomes more established as they age,” it says.
Because of this, the market researcher says that younger consumers, particularly millennials, will be of most interest for brands innovating into new scent formulations as these consumers are more likely to experiment with their product choices.
Who to target, with what?
So this means that when targeting millennials, new scents and innovation will appeal to this group’s demands.
Targeting this group can be risky, as the tendency of young consumers to change brands means that successes are often fleeting.
Winning over older consumers, in contrast, like those in the 40 to 60 age bracket, is probably more profitable, because they are likely to remain faithful for longer.
Datamonitor suggests that age groups who occasionally experiment, for example, the 45-54 year old age group, create important opportunities for brands retaining this consumer base.
“They can potentially expand their own portfolios and therefore engage with these consumers using new scents – appealing to these consumers as it is their trusted and preferred brand,” it adds.
“Looking ahead, brands looking to engage consumers with new scents are likely to better achieve this through targeting more innovation hungry and experimental consumers. Developing brand loyalties and product preferences among millennials will assist in consumer retention as they age.”
