Who is the buyer of tomorrow? How to identify their expectations? These questions are central for cosmetic brands. Markus Gerlach, director of KOS Research, explained how to decipher customers and perceive their emotions during the Sensory Summit organized by the Cosmetic Valley on March 18, 2021.
The consumer has changed over time. Before the 2000s, they were satisfied with what the industry was selling them.
Then the advent of the Internet took place and the era of knowledge began.
In 2010, he became a consumer actor. Behind this neologism lies a more critical and aware profile of the workings of marketing and production. This distrust was driven by the Internet.
But what about today? According to Markus Gerlach, what distinguishes the consumer in 2021 is doubt. “He finds it difficult to find his way around these multiple sources of knowledge, which are sometimes contradictory. There is a kind of horizontalization of information, which has beneficial effects of course, but which makes it difficult to know who to believe.”
A paradoxical state
The expert explains that when people buy something, they have a bundle of expectations that are sometimes contradictory with each other. Among them are notions of:
• Pleasure
• Efficiency
• Naturalness
• Responsibility
• Experience during use
“In addition to these different factors, there is a desire to return to authentic, natural products. And this is true in all areas, including beauty,” comments Markus Gerlach. “This is not new, but the current health situation …
