Most Boys in US Wear Fragrance

Teenage boys probably bring cars and video games to mind, but according to The NPD Group, fragrance is on the minds of teen boys in the US today. According to results taken from the NPD Beauty FragranceTrack 2004 Men's Study, 82% of teen boys today (aged 13-17) wear fragrance.

'Teens remain a vital demographic of the fragrance industry, as fragrance wearers first begin to experiment with scents in their teenage years,' according to Timra Carlson, president, NPD Beauty. With limited dollars to spend, teens will pay close attention to the fragrance brands they choose to buy, making sure the brands fit their exact expectations,' said Carlson.

Attracting girls with a particular fragrance is appealing to teen boys, and this continues as they mature and become adults. In fact, being liked by girls is the number one characteristic teen boys look for when choosing a fragrance (52%), followed by being able to wear the fragrance every day, for every occasion (44%). Teen boys are also attracted to fragrances they perceive to be masculine (43%), clean (33%) and fresh (31%). Only nine percent of teen boys purchase a particular fragrance because their friends wear it.

So, where do teen boys shop for fragrance? According to the study, 58% of them most often shop for fragrances at mass merchants such as Target or Wal-Mart or a food and drug store, such as CVS or Walgreens. Thirteen percent of teen boys most often shop for fragrances at department stores, followed by national chain stores (8%), clothing specialty stores (6%) and fragrance specialty stores (3%). Twelve percent of teen boys purchase fragrances at other locations, including mall kiosks, over the Internet, telephone/mail orders and/or television shopping channels.

NPD asked teen boys what influenced their last fragrance purchase, both before they visited the store as well as once they were in the store. Before entering a store, word of mouth accounts for over a third of interest in the fragrance. Thirty-four percent of teenage boys said they smelled it on someone else and liked it and 31% tried a free sample. Advertising did not have as great of an impact on teen boys. Only 13% of teenage boys say they were influenced by a fragrance ad in a magazine, while television commercials influenced eight percent and only two percent saw a fragrance advertisement in the newspaper.

Once in the store, 63% of teen boys said they purchased the fragrance because they sprayed it and liked the scent. Thirty-five percent said they purchased the fragrance because the price was right, while 30% said they were influenced by a friend or family member shopping with them. Interestingly, 13% of teenage boys bought the fragrance because it came in a cool bottle and 12% said the fragrance came with a gift set. Only 4% of male teens said the sales person influenced their decision.

'It will become increasingly important for both fragrance marketers and retailers alike to understand this young group's shopping behaviors and motivators to attract and maintain their loyalty,' noted Ms. Carlson. 'To win over teens, fragrance brands must first recognize what drives them to the counter.'

The FragranceTrack 2004 Men's Study was conducted via the Internet among a geographically and demographically balanced nationwide sample of over 11,000 men in February 2004. Respondents were screened using a nationally represented, demographic profile of males between the ages of 18 and 64 years old. Male teens 13 to 17 years old also participated in the study with almost 2,000 participants.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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