Can someone edit my paper and fix the citations. I want to get a 100% on my assignment, and in order to do that, the citations make sense, and the statistics need to be fact checked and cited as well.

An Analysis of Dove Soap Company's Consumer and Buyer Behavior

Rachael Abellard

Temple University

Consumer Buyer Behavior

April 18, 2024

An Analysis of Dove Soap Company's Consumer and Buyer Behavior

Introduction

The Dove Soap is an ageless brand famous for its beauty and self-care needs. Dove Soap began in the 1950s. It promotes life ideals like beauty, self-empowerment, and care in brand marketing. The brand has earned its name on three pillars. Those are using natural ingredients, free of harsh substances, and inspiring branding, which creates confidence and wholeness (Gupta et al., 2022). Through analyzing how sensory marketing and emotional message appeals are used by Dove, we will be able to understand how they can mold consumer images and behavior toward the brand.

By harnessing the power of sensory stimuli, and appealing to the audience’s emotional wellness, Dove creates immersive brand experiences that captivate the senses and leave a lasting impression on consumers. Through the values of using natural ingredients and gentle formulations, Dove has won the image of the differentiator in the competitive beauty industry, in which half of the customers are concerned about authenticity and self-confidence. With the help of appealing tag lines that shed negativity and encourage acceptability, Dove has gained a vast fan base who share the company's ideology of kindness and self-approval.

Research Findings

Sensory marketing is not the only marketing channel. Still, it has proven to be one of the most widespread tools due to its ability to create powerful connections between brands and consumers by appealing to all senses. Research demonstrates that up to 90% of consumers purchasing decisions are based on emotional information, which helps sensory marketing to take a leading role in appealing to the emotions of consumers' brains. Dove has successfully combined a combination of light colors, pleasant fragrances, and rich textures to stimulate the sense's product range. Sensation cues can boost brand recognition, thus giving a glimpse into how the sensory approach of Dove works to increase the perception of the brand and consumer recall of it (Solomon, 2019).

Not only does Dove use the exact sensory items in product marketing, but this company also contributes to reinforcing its brand as a provider of quality skincare products. Using the inclusion of sensory cues not only cultivates the scope for more consumer-product connection, empowering emotional ties between the brand and the customers, which, of course, translates into stronger brand loyalty and brand preference for Dove products.

Dove campaigns worldwide support an emotionally appealing attitude and highlight diversity and natural beauty, which shows that every single woman can be confident and proud of herself, no matter what she looks like. By keeping its focus centered on spreading messages such as empowerment and inclusion, Dove makes itself an innovator in spreading appeals aimed at helping to boost positive body image and self-respect. The example of such advertisements by Dove shows modern brands' influence in challenging the stereotypical beauty standards. Through creating a narrative that epitomizes authenticity and personal power, Dove's branding has helped deepen consumer's emotional engagement and develop the sense of being part of a community that is positively supported by the brand (Zhang & Chen, 2024). Research shows that 82 % of consumers require marketers to share their convictions regarding social issues with the public; therefore, it becomes clear how vital Dove's choice to share its brand with its consumers regarding self-confidence and the acceptance of uniqueness is in contemporary advertising.

These days, Dove Soap Company can pride itself on a vast customer base of more than two billion worldwide, suggesting that Dove, as a brand, is truly popular and that people like it. Getting the large number of consumers that Dove has gained at this stage means that there is much space left for the Dove products to expand further and to get more and more consumers, which, as a result, will render their brand name in the skincare market stronger. Also, according to the reports, Dove has experienced an increasing customer base, with a 10 % increase in customers from 2022 to 2023. This brand gain is mainly based on the successful Dove marketing operations, product innovation, and the empowerment of self-esteem and inclusiveness of the consumers, which is relatable to many different groups of people (Zhang & Chen, 2024).

It should be noted that not all consumer audiences will consequently share the same adverse reaction to the messages for Dove because of their difference in preferences and cultural diversity. The variety of elements, such as a specific age group, personal stories, and beauty perceptions, can be why consumers perceive Dove's marketing message correctly or differently. To act to this, Dove is constantly trying to extend its Inclusive campaigns representing various audience segments to earn a positive image and brand experience for each customer. Through the employing of a mass distribution channel and by engaging some innovative marketing approaches, Dove has become a respectable and trusted brand in the beauty industry, reflecting its promise of self-confidence and skin authenticity while adjusting its product labeling to meet the varying demands of its worldwide consumers (Foundation, 2019).

Dove has spearheaded itself to be a number one advocate of self-worthiness, reconciliation, and natural beauty within the cosmetics industry by adopting novel values from its consumer base. Research indicates that Dove has come a long way owing to its powerful positioning, which focuses on self-image acceptance and personal power. The brand has seen fantastic market share growth, driving it to attain excellent financial performance since its establishment. Take the Dove brand, for example; the parent company of Dove, Unilever, declared a turnover of €50.7 billion in 2023, showing a rise in turnover of 5.9% and the Dove brand being one of the contributing factors. The overall success of Dove's strategy has been accomplished by regularly employing regular sensory marketing and emotional appeal messages, thus differentiating itself from the competitors and building a solid brand identity and consumer-brand relationship.

According to Soundaian (2019), the decisiveness of the brand in self-validation and inclusivity has not only given it creditability and reputation but also turned into a mechanical financial success. Data suggests that Dove has experienced an unabated uptick throughout the year, with the brand's sales going up by 3.8% in just 2023. Furthermore, Dove's emphasis on natural beauty and empowerment has played a crucial role in building the brand's trustworthiness and ensuring that the consumers who choose Dove stick with the brand and recommend it to their friends and family, which increases the brand's financial gains. Using both a dignified customer approach and the authenticity of its message, Dove managed to stand apart from the fierce competition among beauty product brands and get a well-deserved role as a brand that can be trusted.

Conclusion

The research studies, among other things, highlight that incorporating sensory marketing with rational message appeals plays a role in influencing consumers' perceptions and behaviors. It is proposed that Dove focuses on these company themes, which is one of the priorities within its marketing strategy to maintain and strengthen the brand positioning. With this in mind, Dove must obtain new perspectives that enable a logical formula to infuse the sensory experience even more through product innovation, creative packaging design, and retail activations. Through interactive and detailed sensory experiences that match Dove's philosophy values, the brand can fruitfully bring consumers close to its brand personality and uniqueness in the crowded marketplace (Hultén, 2020).

Besides, coverage of the emotional state of the brand through Dove should keep pace with the diversity and inclusiveness of the fashion industry. Through showcasing different voices, identities, and experiences in its campaigns, Dove can strengthen the sense of belonging and heightened empowerment among consumers, as a consequence, a favorable brand image and submission to the light and positive way the company approaches society and self. As the findings of the research show, Dove already has all the necessary tools to keep on the evolution of its current success by sticking to its core values: authenticity, inclusion, and empowerment. Through active listening to consumer insights, flexible and re-adaptation to changing trends, and innovation embracement, Dove will own the hearts of any market segment as a favorite and trusted brand in the beauty business.

References

Gupta, M., Jindal, P., & Bansal, S. (2022). Promoting consumer engagement through emotional branding and sensory marketing. IGI Global.

Hultén, B. (2020). Sensory marketing: An introduction. SAGE.

Solomon, M. R. (2019). Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being. Pearson UK.

Soundaian, S. (2019). Strategic Marketing Management. MJP Publisher.

Zhang, X., & Chen, H. (2024). Product type and anticipated regret: The key to unlocking consumer upgrade intention. Journal of Consumer Behavior- An International Research Review. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cb.2326