Candles, Candle Accessories and Home Fragrances Consumer Insight Study
Sponsors needed for new investigation of the candle and home fragrance market
American consumers are passionate about having fragrant-smelling homes. Consumer packaged goods companies that manufacture and market all kinds of household products are paying special attention to scent and the powerful emotional connections their products can convey to the consumer through scent.
In terms of home fragrances, candles are one of the primary means people use to add scent to their homes. However, there is a growing range of innovative home fragrancing options available today including essential oil lamps, burners and diffusers, oil and light rings, incense, sprays, automatic misters and Febreze's trademarked ScentstoriesTM that 'play' scented discs.
The market for candles and home fragrances was found to be $8.4 billion in 2004, the last time Unity Marketing conducted a study of this market. Given the rapid introduction of new products in the category, the popularity of candles and home fragrances as gifts and home decorations and consumers' continuing commitment to fragrancing their homes, the market may well surpass $10 billion in 2006.
Unity Marketing Is Undertaking a New Consumer Insights Investigation of the Candle, Home Fragrance and Lighting Accessories Market
Unity Marketing, a research firm that has been on the forefront of market research in the candle and home fragrance market, proposes to conduct a new consumer insights research study for companies that wish to sponsor this investigation. This study of the candle and home fragrance market will help companies that manufacture and market candles and home fragrance products or retailers who depend upon sales of candles and home fragrance products for a substantial share of company sales to understand the latest dynamics in the consumer marketplace and develop strategic plans for the future.
This will give marketers and retailers that sponsor this research study exclusive new information about the future of the candle and home fragrance markets. Study sponsorship represents a cost-effective solution for customized consumer research.
Consumer Insights to Be Discovered
With the focus on the consumer, their needs, desires and preferences, Unity Marketing's research study will focus on buying behavior and consumer motivation for purchases of candles, home fragrances, candle and lighting accessories. Topics to be investigated in the consumer survey include:
- Candle and Home Fragrance Market Size and Growth: How large is the market for candles, home fragrances, candle and lighting accessories? What is the size of the key product segments in the market? How fast is each segment growing? What are the key channels of distribution for candle and home fragrance products and how fast are sales in each channel growing? What are the future growth trends in the candle and home fragrance market?
- Demographics of the Candle and Home Fragrance Consumer Market: What are the key demographic characteristics of the consumer market for candles and home fragrances? How do men and women differ in their purchases in this category? What are the key demographic differences found among and between buyers of the different products segments (e.g., gender, age, generation, HHI, size, composition, ethnicity/race, education, etc.)?
- Buying and Shopping Behavior of Candle and Home Fragrance Consumers: Where do candle and home fragrance buyers shop for these goods? What do they look for in new products and shopping destinations? What kind of shopping experiences do consumers crave and what kind do they disdain? What motivates them to buy these goods (e.g. self-purchase or gifts; home fragrance, decoration, other)? What factors influence their decision making, such as scent, price, brand, color, design/style, etc.? How much do they spend buying each of the products segments and across the entire category? What is the role of brand in product and services selection and shopping choices? How do different demographic segments differ in their shopping and buying behavior?
- Favorite Candle and Home Fragrance Brands and Shopping Destinations: Part of the research will be devoted to understanding the brand preferences, if any, of candle and home fragrance customers in both their product selections and retail shopping choices. What product brands and retailers do they think of for their purchases? How do these competing brands rank in terms of consumer awareness and usage?
- Psychographic Profile and Segmentation of the Candles and Home Fragrance Market: A psychographic profile of the candle and home fragrance consumer will be developed in this study. The profiles will identify different types or personalities of consumers of candle and home fragrance products. These profiles will identify each personality's drives and motivations in purchasing these product; what factors are more or less important in driving their purchasing and shopping decisions; and how their attitudes and motivations influence what they buy and how much they spend. These insights will help product marketers and retailers better understand the hearts and minds of their consumers.
Research Methodologies
Insights into the candle and home fragrance consumer segments of the market will be gathered using two separate research methodologies:
- Focus groups where recent purchases of candles and home fragrance products will talk about their purchases, the decision process in making those purchases and how they feel about brands, retailers, product offerings in the category.
- Quantitative survey of 1,000 candle and home fragrance consumers to discover their buying behavior, spending patterns and validate hypotheses from focus groups. A portion of the survey will be devoted specifically to brand awareness and usage.
Sponsorship Opportunities and Deliverables
Two levels of research sponsorships are available: Basic (quantitative survey only) and Advanced Research Sponsors (both focus groups and quantitative survey).
Research sponsors will define the overall study objectives and the focus on the research investigation. Therefore, companies that have a special interest in one category of candles or home fragrances, say incense, essential oils, specialty candle or lighting products, need to sponsor the research in order to be assured their product category is included in the final study.
Advanced Research Sponsors - Advanced research sponsors will participate in both the focus groups and the quantitative research study. The deliverables advanced sponsors will receive include:
Focus Groups
- Participate in guiding and directing the scope of the research study, defining objectives, areas of inquiry and specifying information and insights to pursue.
- Participate in focus groups through review of respondent screening criteria and moderator's guide that directs the flow of focus group discussion. This may include preparing one presentation board (about 24" by 36") for discussion in focus groups.
- Observe focus groups; receive video copies and transcripts.
- In-depth focus group analysis report highlighting major findings from discussion.
- Webcast of major findings from focus groups with question and answer period.
Quantitative Survey
- Review draft survey questionnaire making suggestions and recommendations, including product categories to be included in the candle and home fragrance survey and add key brands and 5-6 competitor brands.
- Topline results or cross-tabs delivered immediately after survey is conducted which will include answers to all survey questions.
- Final in-depth Candle and Home Fragrance Consumer Insights Report including all major findings from focus groups, quantitative study and psychographic personality analysis.
- Webcast presentation of an executive summary of major findings with question and answer period.
Basic Research Sponsors - Basic research sponsors will participate only in the quantitative survey and receive only those deliverables.
Timing
Unity plans to conduct the research and publish the final report during the second half of 2007 or early 2008.
Basic Research Sponsorship Fee: $2,500 to $3,500
Advanced Research Sponsorship Fee: $5,000 - $7,500
(Sponsorship fees may vary depending upon the total number of research sponsors)
