Longevity Takes Center Stage in Beauty Retail: Study

Driven by economic instability, information overload and optimization culture, beauty consumers are trading aspirational shopping for data-backed biological investments related to longevity concerns. That’s the conclusion of a new survey performed and analyzed by students from the Fashion Institute of Technology’s (FIT) master’s degree program.

As longevity becomes a defining priority in the beauty market, the research examined how four macro forces—uncertainty, the erosion of the American Dream, cognitive fatigue and optimization—are reshaping purchasing behaviors. Based on a survey of 550 U.S. beauty buyers, key findings from the FIT report include:

• While 65% of beauty buyers already use longevity-supporting products, 58% don’t grant beauty a role in longevity.
• Beauty is the most-protected discretionary spend. Only 33% cut beauty in a stressed economy—versus 55% dining out, 48% clothing, 45% travel. Beauty is cut at barely half the rate of restaurants.
• The “lipstick effect” is real and additive. Of the 26% who buy beauty “pick-me-ups” under economic stress, only 16% are also cutting their beauty budget. For the other 84%, the splurges are new spend on top of normal beauty—not traded-down spend.
• The market runs on cognitive overload. While 85% feel overwhelmed shopping for beauty, one in five (21%) experience that anxiety every single time. The leading cause, named by 50%, is too many new products. The launch-volume strategy is backfiring.

“While beauty industry professionals will gain a deeper understanding of consumers’ feelings about longevity as it relates to brands, product claims and marketing, the findings transcend the consumer by delving into the roles of science and the business of longevity,” said Brooke Carlson, Interim Dean of the School of Graduate Studies at New York-based FIT. “For me, this research is a wake-up call for any business—not just beauty—to take action or be left behind.”

Click here for more from the study.