Presented by Robert Dossin, Client Solutions Director Europe at SKIM | Rotterdam In the context of purchasing skin care products, we asked 500 consumers in the US, 400 in Germany, and 400 in South Korea how they would rank different sources of information on key dimensions such as Honesty, Expertise and Trustworthiness. Many results are counter intuitive! We already knew that Baby Boomers do not trust information on Facebook or Twitter, but did you know that Millennials equally rely on product reviews compared to their elderly generations? This and many more facts about the different generations were presented at the Healthy Ageing conference in Amsterdam. Strategic marketers in health markets can learn and understand how to be more aligned with this growing target group and close the gap between – young marketer – and old (and healthy) consumer!

1. Baby boomers
and health
decisions
Robert Dossin
Client Solutions Director
A study about how different
generations make purchase
decisions

2. Decision behaviour study
1200 Consumers
Skin Care buyers = 436
• Baby Boomers n = 124
• Generation X n = 183
• Millennials n = 128
857 Consumers
Skin Care buyers n = 544
• Baby Boomers n = 173
• Generation X n = 185
• Millennials n = 186

3. Millennials
Born 1981-2000

4. Generation X
Born 1965-1980

5. Baby Boomers
Born 1945-1964

6. Skincare products

7. Baby boomers are more often impulse buyers
37%
38%
25%
23%
35%
41%
I do not spend a lot of time
with deciding which products
to buy but purchase it rather
spontaneously
I collect some information on
available products but do not
do extensive research.
I thoroughly study the pros and
cons of all available products.
BabyBoomers Millennials
% of US respondents that strongly agree with the following statements

8. 26%
25%
22%
K o l o m 1
Millenials GenerationX Babyboomers
Baby Boomers seek less health
info than Gen X + Y
% of US respondents that strongly agree with the following statements
“I am frequently seeking
out information about (my)
health.”

9. 25%
27%
34%
K o l o m 1
Millenials GenerationX Babyboomers
Baby Boomers are more health
conscious during purchasing decision
% of US respondents that strongly agree with the following statements
“When purchasing a
product,
I am conscious about its
impact on my health.”

10. All generations believe that can
actively manage their health
% of US respondents that strongly agree with the following statements
I can actively
influence my health
52%
52%
55%
K o l o m 1
Millenials GenerationX Babyboomers

11. Country differences
29% 53%24%
Info
searching
Active
mgnt
Health
conscious
17% 47%12%

12. Consumers make their choice for sources
of information

13. 55%
50%
49%
43%
10%
-10%
-25%
-39%
-44%
-51%
-57%
Recommendation by family member
Product test by consumer organization
Recommendation by friend
Product review by consumers on retailer website
Product review on specialized news website about this…
Product information published on the internet by company
Recommendation by salesperson in store
Printed product information by selling company
Article on product in print newspaper
Article on product in online newspaper
Post about product on social media platform
Information sources consumers rely on
most and least when deciding on
purchasing a new skin care product

14. Recommendations
by family or friends
are heavily relied upon

15. Most relied upon sources
1. Recommendation by family member
2. Product test by consumer organization
3. Recommendation by friend
4. Product review by consumers on
retailer websites
Least relied upon sources
1. Product post on social media platform
2. Article on product in online newspaper
3. Article on product in print newspaper
4. Printed product information by seller
5. Sales person in store

16. 2.8
3.0
2.9
2.8
2.4
2.3
2.1
2.3
2.5
2.5
3.4
2.4
3.4
3.4
2.7
2.6
2.1
2.1
2.7
2.5
2.9
Product review by consumers on retailer website like Amazon
Post about product on social media platform like Twitter or…
Recommendation by family member
Recommendation by friend
Product test by consumer organization, e.g. Consumer Reports
Product review on specialized news website about this product…
Article on product in print newspaper
Article on product in online newspaper
Recommendation by salesperson in store
Printed product information by selling company, e.g. sales…
Product information published on the internet by company
Millennials
Babyboomers
Babyboomers loathe…

17. 2.8
3.0
2.9
2.8
2.4
2.3
2.1
2.3
2.5
2.5
3.4
2.4
3.4
3.4
2.7
2.6
2.1
2.1
2.7
2.5
2.9
Product review by consumers on retailer website like Amazon
Post about product on social media platform like Twitter or…
Recommendation by family member
Recommendation by friend
Product test by consumer organization, e.g. Consumer Reports
Product review on specialized news website about this product…
Article on product in print newspaper
Article on product in online newspaper
Recommendation by salesperson in store
Printed product information by selling company, e.g. sales…
Product information published on the internet by company
Millennials
Babyboomers
Millennials love…

18. Amazon.com

19. Customer reviews
About Customer Reviews
You can submit written or video reviews for items listed on Amazon.com. We encourage you to share your opinions, both favorable and unfavorable.
We've worked over the years to make our millions of customer reviews as useful as possible – we’ve added features like Amazon Verified Purchase, helpful votes, and
review comments in the pursuit of a system that’s open and flexible and yet structured and helpful for anyone who wants to learn more from other customers about anything
we sell.
Over time we've also built mechanisms, both manual and automated, that remove reviews which violate our guidelines. We recently improved our detection of
promotional reviews which resulted in the removal of reviews, both new and old. While our enforcement has improved, our Customer Review Creation Guidelines
have not changed. We hope to keep improving our approach over time and we welcome feedback from customers and reviewers alike on how to keep making reviews more
valuable to Amazon shoppers.
Customer Reviews are meant to give customers genuine product feedback from fellow shoppers. Our goal is to capture all the energy and enthusiasm (both favorable and
critical) that customers have about a product while avoiding use of reviews to outright advertise, promote and especially mislead. We have a zero tolerance policy for any
review designed to mislead or manipulate customers. Customer Reviews help customers learn more about the product or genre, hear the reasons behind your star
rating, and ultimately decide if this is the right product for them or not.
Authors and artists can add a unique perspective and we very much welcome their customer reviews. While we encourage reviewers to share their enthusiasm and
experience, there can be a fine line between that and the use of customer reviews as product promotion. We don't allow anyone to write customer reviews as a form of
promotion and if we find evidence that a customer was paid for a review, we'll remove it. If you have a direct or indirect financial interest in a product, or perceived to have a
close personal relationship with its author or artist, we'll likely remove your review. We don't allow authors to submit customer reviews on their own books even when they
disclose their identity.
Below each review, you’ll find a question that asks "Was this review helpful to you?" – if you answer "no," you can let us know why the review is inappropriate. We'll examine
the review and take action if necessary.

20. Rational or Emotional ?
How
do
you
feel?

21. System 1 and 2

22. Emotions
Admiration
Desire
Inspiration
Amusement
Pleasant.Surprise
Satisfaction
Fascination
Disgust
Indignation
Contempt
Unpleasant.Surprise
Dissatisfaction
Disappointment
Boredom
Product review by consumers on
retailer website
Post about product on social
media platform
Recommendation by family
member
Recommendation by friend
Product test by consumer
organization
Product review on specialized
news website about this product
category
Article on product in print
newspaper
Article on product in online
newspaper
Recommendation by salesperson
in store
Printed product information by
selling company
Product information published on
the internet by company

23. Happy Boomer vs. Negative
Millennials

24. Wrap up
Baby Boomers:
• Do feel they can actively influence their health
and are very conscious when buying skincare
products
• Do not research/consult many sources, but
decide fast
• They listen to friends and read product tests,
not social media
Millennials:
• Are true digital natives: using a multitude of
sources to make decisions
• Are less certain/positive about buying skincare
products – but also feel they can actively influence
their health
• And are mostly influenced by friend & family and
product review websites

25. Marketing Implications
• Baby Boomers do worry about their health. They
have the time and resources to buy
• Reach them via friend & family and product test of
consumer organizations
• Tonality needs to be positive and play on their
needs; less emphasizes on concerns, elderly age or
frail state

26. Go to www.skimgroup.com/webinars
for today’s presentation slides and more!
Robert Dossin
r.dossin@skimgroup.com

27. Biography Robert Dossin
Robert – Senior
Director Healthcare,
is responsible
overall client
relations in the
Healthcare sector;
he works with
Pharmaceutical,
Consumer Health
and many B2B
companies.
Before joining SKIM, Robert worked for 10 years in London. First, for 7 years,
with IMS Health as VP Marketing driving the growth in their consulting business
with their pharmaceutical clients and prior to joining SKIM with In Sites
Consulting as MD and global Head of Healthcare in the London office and prior
with.
Robert started his career at Nissan, at the European HQ of the Japanese car
manufacturer as Market Researcher and has had various marketing roles with
increasing levels of responsibility, before moving to Forrester Research to set
up and manage their marketing operations in the EMEA region.
He is used to partner with researchers, marketers and commercial teams on
strategy development and implementation – and is an expert in digital marketing
and managing brands during their life cycle. He works with many Consumer
Health companies such as Danone, Nutricia, Bayer Consumer Care, Nestle and
is a regular speaker at Healthcare and Marketing conferences.