Skin care consumer insights through social media in GCI magazine

The social media space is a vibrant source of current, candid and unprompted consumer insight. And, there may be an opportunity for brands to enlighten and excite in a category that is, quite literally, in your face. Sourabh Sharma, SKIM Communication and Social Media Research expert, shares key takeaways from social media on the face care category with GCI magazine.

It’s all about moisturization: consumer insights through social media

“As one Facebook user aptly pointed out “My face is my temple,” and a blogger recently offered that “There’s no point in a pretty body if you don’t spend time taking care of your face, too.” These comments, just a few examples from explorations of the social media universe, demonstrate how face care is a rather sensitive but insanely popular realm of conversation. Of more than 50,000 online conversations about skin care that were generated in summer 2013, about 40% were about face care.

The social media space is a vibrant source of current, candid and unprompted consumer insight. While other research methods focus on asking questions of consumers, they are estranged from modern consumers’ app savvy mobile world. Empowered with the ability to tweet, review a product, post a picture, blog a review and so much more, anything is public and is accessible to anyone. One of the key attributes of social media in terms of consumers’ shopping experience is that it allows a direct, candid comparison of products, brands and stores. Because consumers speak freely about their preferences through social media, it provides a more level playing field than can be acquired through traditional, question-based research. Any brand, whether a dominant player or an upstart boutique, can gain unfettered access to consumers’ unedited thoughts…”

Read the entire publication on the GCI magazine website